Slayers: Parenthood
by Earth Star
Summary: After years of fighting mazoku and saving the world, the Slayers now face their greatest challenge. Having to raise their own children. A drabble series
1. Grey Hairs

Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers nor do I wish to make any profit from this story.

Author's Note: This is going to be a series of drabbles about the Slayers gang having to raise their kids. So, there's no real big overall plot to these.

"_Grey Hairs"_

Zelgadis always made sure that his sword was sharpened and polish. It was a personal rule that was just as important his rule to keep up his fighting skills. With a wet cloth in hand, the chimera polished his sword blade hilt to tip.

True, it had been a long time since his days of adventuring and exploring unknown lands, but trouble was like a wild animal. It remained still and silent until suddenly attacking before its' prey realized what has happened. That was why Zelgadis refused to let his skills rust, especially now that he had his family to protect.

He put down the cloth and held up his sword, nodding in satisfaction. Zelgadis returned his sword to his scabbard and retrieved his ring from the side table. He had taken it off in fear of getting sword polish on it during his cleaning. Zelgadis paused and carefully fingered the small band of gold.

"_Has it really been 10 years since Amelia and I got married?_" he thought. _"There are times I think these years are just a dream and I'm going to wake up."_ Zelgadis held the ring up to the window. It sparkled as the sunlight bounced off its' golden surface.

It felt like it was only yesterday that he, Amelia, Lina and Gourry were traveling together looking for a decent inn for the night during one of their adventures. A lot had changed since those days. Lina and Gourry had gotten married, opened a magic shop in Seyrune and had their hands full raising their two children.

He and Amelia had also gotten married, but the one thing that hadn't changed was the fact that he was still a chimera. Zelgadis still searched for a cure, but he wasn't as persistent as before. He was more concerned with taking care of Amelia and Zack.

Zelgadis smiled. Zack, the son that Zelgadis and Amelia had never imagined that they could ever have. Since he was a chimera, it was very unlikely that Zelgadis and Amelia could have any children. He clearly remembered having a serious discussion about that with Amelia before their wedding. Then, without warning Zack came along. He still wasn't sure if he had recovered from that shock.

Thinking of his young son, Zelgadis remembered he had promised the boy that he would take him to visit Lina and Gourry's shop that afternoon. He slipped on his ring and ventured out into the garden. He scanned the area looking for Sylphiel. She was suppose to be teaching Zack a bit of healing magic. Normally, Amelia would be the one to handle this but she and Phil were busy in a meeting.

"Your highness! Please come down!"

Zelgadis's ears twitched. That was definitely Sylphiel and by her tone it would appear that Zack was causing trouble again. The chimera followed the desperate pleas.

"Prince Zackery this is not the way for a prince to act!"

He went around the rose bush. Sylphiel was standing beneath the giant oak tree. A person walking by might have thought she was begging.

"Prince Zack, please..."

"Sylphiel?"

The girl spun around. "Mr. Zelgadis?! You're here early."

"No actually, I'm on time,"he sighed. "Now where is my son?"

Sylphiel nervously twiddled her fingers. "Well...he's um...I don't want you to over react..."

"Sylphiel, where is..."

**Bonk!**

A fat acorn bounced off of Zelgadis's head. He stared at the acorn. The blood drained from his face. Fearfully, he lifted his head up to the tree. He saw his young six year old son high up in the tree, joyfully climbing onto an even higher branch.

The boy looked down and only now seemed to notice that his father was watching him "Hi Daddy!" he happily waved.

"Zackery Rodimus Zolf Seyrune, what are you doing up there?!"

"Climbing," the boy stated, in a matter of fact tone.

Sharply, Zelgadis turned back to Sylphiel. "How on earth did he get up there?!"

"I don't know!" Sylphiel stammered. "I only turned my back for a second and when I turned around he was halfway up there!"

The chimera twitched and returned his attention to his climbing son. "Zack come down this instant!"

"In a minute Daddy."

"Not in a minute young man! You'll come down right now! You're going to break your neck!"

"Wow! Daddy, I think I can see Aunt Lina and Uncle Gourry's house from up here!"

Zelgadis was positive he could hear a vein popping. "Zack climb down right now or I'll..."

**CRACK!**

Zelgadis's fears came true. The branch Zack was currently on snapped. To his horror, the boy was plummeting to the ground. Zelgadis's brain didn't have time to register the situation as his body took over. On instinct, he cast a levitation spell. He flew upwards, holding out his arms as if he was catching a ball and caught Zack. The chimera held his son tightly as he made his way back to the safe solid ground. Zelgadis breathed deeply as he felt his momentary fear go away and relief come to take its' place. However, his relief was quickly forgotten as his eyes began twitching at his son's words.

"Daddy, that was fun. Can we do it again?"

* * *

"So he climbed a tree. Kids tend to do that, Zel. What's the big deal?"

From his seat on the couch, Zelgadis put down his cup of tea and glared. "Lina, he was almost at the top! If Sylphiel and I weren't there he could have gotten hurt or worse."

Lina folded her hands. "But he's fine now right? You can't stop a kid from climbing a tree."

"Lina..."

Gourry and Amelia sighed. Neither of them were in the mood for one of these arguments. "Okay, you both can agree that kids climb trees." Gourry replied. "So can you two please not turn this into a debate?"

Lina shrugged. "Fine."

Zelgadis just grumbled, picking up his tea cup again.

"Speaking of which, where are the kids?" Amelia asked.

"In the backyard. I think Lori is trying to get Rowen and Zack to play hide and seek." Lina replied.

"Just as long as they don't get into anymore trouble." Zelgadis mumbled. "He's my son, and I love him, but that boy is aging me faster than anything Xellos ever did."." He massaged his temples. "Last week, Amelia caught him riding a silver tray down the stairs."

"Well, at least he was wearing a pot for a helmet. You have to admit he's ...adventurous." Amelia pointed out.

Zelgadis turned to his wife. "Well, I don't recall you being so happy last month when he brought that snake home and let it escape from his room." Amelia shuddered. She hadn't been able to get a wink of sleep that week. The thought of a snake crawling into her warm bed and cuddling on her chest kept her more awake then a week's supply of coffee.

"Where did that snake end up anyway?" Gourry added.

Amelia sighed. "In the room Mrs. Martina and Mr. Zangulus were staying in. Remember, it was when we were negotiating trade terms with Xoana."

Lina giggled. "I still wish I could have seen her face when she found that snake in her trunk."

"It wasn't so funny when Mr. Zangulus went chasing after it with his sword,"Amelia muttered. "I'm still not sure how many vases he broke."

Zelgadis sighed, putting down his tea cup again. "My point is that Zack is giving me grey hairs."

Lina rolled her eyes. "Zel, I think you're exaggerating. Chimeras can't get grey..."

Zelgadis plucked a hair and showed it to Lina.

She blinked. "Well I'll be damned. A grey hair. Zack sure seems to have a knack for making the impossible happen."

"I just don't know where he gets it from..."

Amelia blushed. "Um...I'm pretty sure he gets it from me." Amelia cleared her throat. "You may have a hard time believing this, but I was a bit of a wild child myself."

The group stared at her in disbelief. "You're kidding, right?" Lina asked. She had always pictured Amelia as being a good little girl who always did what she was told to do.

Amelia shook her head. "You can ask Daddy if you need proof, but I was always doing stuff like Zack does." She stared at the group seriously. "Why do you think I'm so good at climbing high places?"

Zelgadis was stunned. Suddenly, in his mind he had visions of Zack climbing high pillars and making speeches of love and justice. He groaned. "Wonderful..."

"Relax Zel, Amelia obviously got better. I'm sure Zack will too." Lina replied.

Gourry eased back, laughing a bit. "This is really ironic."

"How so?" Amelia asked.

"I always thought that if you guys ever had kids they would be the well behaved ones and it would be our kids driving us up the wall."

Lina raised an eyebrow. "And why might you say that?"

"I was positive that one of them would inherit your short temper..."

"I do not have a short temper!"

"Mommy!"

Lori came running in as fast as her little legs would take her. Her blond pony-tail bounced along with her. "Rowen and Zack won't play hide and seek with me!"

Gourry patted her four year old daughter's head. "Honey we've been through this, you can't force your older brother to play with you."

"_Well technically she can if she threatens him enough."_ Lina thought. _"But we're_ _probably better off with her not knowing about that yet." _

"But what they're doing is really dumb!" Lori pouted. "And I don't like heights."

An eerie silence fell upon the room.

"...Lori why would you say that?" Amelia asked.

Lori sighed and folded her arms. "Zack said he wanted to fly but he can't cast magic spells like Uncle Zelgadis, but Rowen said he just needed a cape like in the storybook Mommy reads us."

Zelgadis groaned. _Please, oh please don't say it.._

"Lori..." Lina said slowly, "Where are the boys now?"

**Thump, thump, thump**

The group looked up toward the ceiling, dreading the sounds coming from it.

"On the roof." Lori huffed. "I told them it was stupid."

"I'm going to kill them!" Lina growled as she scooped up Lori and frantically ran outside. The other three followed with many grumbles from Zelgadis. He could feel more grey hairs growing with every passing second.

* * *

**Author's Note**_For this drabble, I focused more on Zack then I did Lori and Rowen, but I will write some drabbles that will show more of their personalities. As for Zack, I thought it would be amusing for him to inherit Amelia's energy and seeing him drive Zelgadis a bit crazy._


	2. The Dreaded Question

_"The Dreaded Question"_

"Let's see..." Gourry muttered as he double checked the list. "We have seven amulets, two new spell books..."

"THEY DO NOT!"

"THEY DO TOO!"

Gourry sighed. "Just tune it out,"he told himself. "Lina will kill me if I don't get this inventory for the store done." He returned to his list. "Now then, we have two new spell books..."

"THEY DO NOT TIMES A MILLION!"

"THEY DO TOO TIMES...INFINITY!"

Gourry slammed the pencil down. He couldn't take this anymore. Rowen and Lori had been arguing for almost an hour now. Normally he would let the kids work out their own problems, but his eardrums could only take so much.

Gourry quickly marched up the stairs and flung the door to the kids' bedroom open. Neither one of the children acknowledge his presence as he entered.

"Don't be stupid!" Rowen snapped.

"I'm not!" Lori yelled, as she was aiming a pillow at her brother's head.

Gourry put two fingers in his mouth and let loose an ear splitting whistle. The children's yelling ceased as both of them covered their ears.

"Ow, Dad!" Rowen complained. "That hurt my ears!"

"Good, then you know how I feel. I could hear both of you yelling all the way down in the basement."

"It's Lori's fault!" Rowen replied, pointing at his pouting sister. "She's being stupid."

Gourry shook his head. "Rowen, don't call your sister stupid."

"But she thinks babies are bought from stores."

Gourry blinked. He wasn't expecting that. "Stores..."

"But they do!" Lori protested. "They sell kittens and puppies in stores."

The swordsman laughed. He kneeled down and patted his daughter's head. "Lori, that's just a pet shop. People can buy animals there, but that's not where human babies come from."

"Ha!" Rowen smirked in triumph. "I told you so!"

Lori glared. "Alright, smarty pants, then where do babies come from?"

Rowen grinned, but it disappeared as he tried to think of an answer, nothing coming to mind. "I don't know..." He turned to Gourry, who now had a horrible feeling of where this conversation was going. "Dad where do babies come from?"

Gourry gulped. He didn't that think he would have to answer this question until his kids were..at least thirty. "Um...well..they..." Gourry took a deep breath. He would just have to tell them the truth. He couldn't lie to his own children. The easier way was probably to just blurt it out.

"Daddy?" Lori asked, wondering what was taking her father so long to answer.

"Babies..." He could feel his voice taking a life of its own. "Come from...STORKS!"

As soon as he said it, Gourry wanted to slap his forehead and bang his head against a wall.

"What's a stork?" Lori asked.

"It's a kind of big bird," Rowen replied, astonished at what he had just learned. "Right, Dad?"

"Yeah, a bird." Gourry mumbled. Why on earth did he say that?

"So birds...give out babies?" Lori replied. Her body was shaking in excitement. "Wow! That's so cool!"

Gourry sighed and patted his daughter. _Oh well _Gourry thought._ It's not like they'll believe something like this forever. What could it hurt?_

0808080808080808080808080808080

Three hours later, Gourry fell into his favorite chair. He was exhausted. All Gourry wanted to do was take a hot long bath and sleep. As Gourry was devising his plans for the night, he heard Lina enter. She looked up with a tight smile. "Hey Gourry, long day?"

"Yeah." He stretched out like a cat before taking a long nap.

"I see." Lina slowly went around and began to massage his shoulders.

"Mmm...That feels nice." Gourry replied in a sleepy voice.

She leaned into his ear. "By the way, do you know what I found Lori doing? She was writing a letter..."

Lina's grip tightened. "Lina, that hurts a bit...Who was Lori writing to?"

"The stork."

Gourry no longer felt tired. "Uh oh.." He thought about trying to run for it, but there was no way to escape Lina's death grip.

"She was hoping," she continued, "that the stork could bring her a baby sister."

Lina peered down over Gourry's head. "Do you mind telling me why you told our children that babies were delivered by giant birds?!"

Gourry gulped. "Look Lina, she caught me off guard. It..was the only thing I could think of..."

Lina twitched. "Gourry, where on earth did you get a stupid explanation like that?" She grabbed Gourry's hands. "I do not want my kids being laughed at just because their father was too stupid to think of a good answer. Now come on!"

Lina grabbed Gourry by the collar and dragged him up the stairs and into the children's bedroom. Lori shoved aside the letter she'd been writing, while Rowen put down the spell book he'd been reading. "What's up Mom?"

"We're correcting something." Lina gestured forward and Gourry sighed.

"About what I said about babies, they're aren't really delivered by storks."

"They're not?" Lori asked, sounding a bit disappointed.

Rowen snorted. "I knew it."

"That's right." Lina added. "Your father was being silly."

Lori frowned. "Then where do babies come from, Mom?"

Lina's smirk vanished. "What?"

"If storks don't bring them, where do babies come from?" Lori repeated.

"Um...well..." Lina stammered. _Think, Lina! Think!_ Lina gulped and said the first thing that popped into her mind. "They came from cabbage patches!"

Gourry bit his lip. He so wanted to laugh.

"A cabbage patch?!" Rowen cried in disbelief.

Lina twitched. She knew that Gourry wasn't going to let this go for a long time. "That's right. A cabbage patch."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Rowen cried, burying his head into his hands.

"Cool!" Lori cried. "I wonder if I can grow my own little sister."

Lina stepped out into the hall without even glancing at her husband. Gourry followed her while grinning from ear to ear. As they reached their bedroom Gourry said "I have to admit, you answer was more creative than mine."

"Shut up, Gourry."


	3. The Dreaded Question Continued

"The Dreaded Question Continued" 

Prince Phil loved children. He admired them for their innocent nature and their eagerness to learn. These were the essential traits for any champion of justice. Phil particularly respected children for their ability to be creative and imaginative. They could make a game from almost anything and anybody. Thinking about this, he was walking by the palace garden, Phil couldn't help but wonder what on earth his grandson Zack along with Lina and Gourry's children Rowen and Lori were crawling in the dirt and carefully inspecting each flower.

"Do you think they can come from tulips?" asked Zack.

"Don't think so." Lori mumbled "What about a rose bush?"

"But that would be too thorny for them."

Rowen only shook his head, wondering what he was doing here. "This is stupid."

"Pardon me, children," asked Phil "but what are you doing?"

Zack looked up from bed of daffodils he was currently in. "We're looking for babies Grandpa."

Prince Phil had been expecting many different answers, but that one hadn't been on his list. "Babies?"

"Mommy said that babies come from cabbage patches," Lori explained. "I wanted to get a little sister, but then Mommy said there weren't any cabbage patches nearby to get them from."

"So then I suggested we look in the flower garden!" Zack declared, puffing up his chest in pride. "That was smart, right, Grandpa?"

Phil could feel a laugh rippling in his throat, but he suppressed it. He didn't want his grandson to feel that he was making fun of him. "Yes, Zack, that was very smart. Rowen, you don't appear to be helping with the search."

The boy sighed. "I'm only here because Mom told me to keep Lori from getting into trouble."

Phil nodded. "I see. Sadly children, as a champion of justice I am afraid I must tell you the truth."

"The truth?" Lori asked. "Please don't tell me Mommy made this story to be silly too?"

Phil wondered what the girl meant by 'too' but he let it go for now. "I'm not quite sure what you mean, but I'm afraid that babies do not grow in cabbage patches or in any kind of flower garden."

"Ha! I knew it!" Rowen laughed. "It takes a lot to try to trick me!"

He is his mother's son, Phil thought. The prince sat down and lifted both Lori and Zack into his lap. "Now listen closely children and I shall tell you the truth about of where babies come from..."

80808080808080808080808

"Let's see..." Amelia muttered to herself. "Zelgadis said that Daddy had gone to take a walk." She glanced around. "Knowing him, he probably went towards the royal garden."

"I'M NOT TAKING ANYMORE OF THIS!!"

Amelia jumped at the sudden yell. She was even more surprised to see that the shout had come from Rowen. The boy was dragging both Lori and Zack by their hands. Rowen carried a fierce look on his face that resembled Gourry when he had to drag Lina away from an unsuspecting gang of bandits. "I'm sorry Uncle Phil, but you've gone too far."

Amelia became even more stunned as she saw her father running after them. "Rowen wait! You have to let me..."

"Oh no you don't!" Rowen yelled, spinning around. "It was bad enough hearing those silly stories from Dad and then Mom, but yours...yours tops them both!"

"Rowen please."

His mind made up, Rowen grabbed Lori and Zack's hands. "Forget it! I'm not going to let you get these two even more messed up than they already are. Let's go guys!"

"Ow! Rowen you're pulling too hard!" Zack yelled while being dragged off along with a confused Lori.

Amelia was speechless as she watched the children leave. She turned to her father. "Daddy, what on earth did you do?"

Prince Phil scratched his head. "I was only explaining to them where babies come from? Apparently Rowen refuses to believe me."

"Why?"

"It seems that he thinks it far too disgusting and gross to be actually true." Phil stroked his chin. "I wonder if I should try using visuals aids?"

Amelia sweat-dropped and made a mental note not to let her father explain the "Birds and the Bees" to Zack when he was older.


	4. Child of Mine

"**Child of Mine"**

The storage room in Seyrune's castle was not often given much thought, even by the servants. It was merely a place where one could temporarily put miscellaneous items, later forgetting about them entirely. Since this room mostly contained items belonging to the royal family, it was normally locked. Only members of the royal family, were allowed to enter. Of course, no one else had ever cared about going in since it was filled with objects most people would consider junk.

Zack, however, was not like most people. He had always been curious about what kind of treasure laid beyond the locked door. In his mind, any door that was locked must contain something valuable. It happened in fairytales frequently, so it had to be true. He had never gotten a chance to explore this room until today, when he noticed that his father had left the key to the storage room on top of his dresser. Zack had eagerly snatched the key and dashed off to finally explore the mysterious room.

He got to the door, quickly scanning left and right to make sure he had not been followed, and unlocked the door. The room was a bit dustier than he had anticipated and darker too. Zack cast a lighting spell and glanced about, taking in the sight. There were dust covered trunks and chests and a few old fashioned gowns hanging about. There were also a few odd looking items, particularly the relief hanging on the wall. It had a carved image of a strange creature with the words "Zoamel Gustav will live forever" below it. Zack blinked momentarily at the relief, and proceeded with his exploration of the room.

In spite of his enthusiasm, Zack did not uncover any jewels or lost treasures, but rather moth eaten clothing and some books. He was about to give up until he spotted a small book sitting on the shelf. The book looked very out of place in the room, because it wasn't nearly as dusty as the other books and it was the only item sitting on its' shelf.

His eight year old curiosity sparked again, but the shelf was out of reach. Zack pulled over a trunk and climbed on top. The boy barely managed to touch the shelf , but he grinned in triumph once his fingers touched the book's spine. Zack hugged the book to his chest and sat on the floor, leaning against the chest he had just pulled over.

He examined his discovery more closely. It was not a thick book, and there were no words on the cover. It appeared to be someone's personal journal. Zack wondered who in the palace was keeping a journal and opened the pages.

Zack's eyes widened. It was his father's handwriting. This was his father's journal.

For a moment, Zack wondered if he should put the book back. He didn't even know that his father kept a journal. His father might get angry if he caught him reading. Then, a voice from the back of his mind (which sounded an awful lot like Aunt Lina) argued, it was his Dad's fault for not putting it in a proper hiding place. Besides, he would only peek at it. That couldn't hurt, right?

With this logical conclusion, Zack opened to the first page:

_I can't say I had ever thought of keeping a journal. It is something I had considered but never bothered with. However, after recent events, I've decided to start keeping one so that I will not forget any important details in the years to come._

_To start things off, it was my cold that started all of this. Yes, as odd as it sounds, it was my cold. I was stuck in bed for two days straight coughing and sneezing. It was rather surprising, as I rarely get colds since Rezo turned me into a chimera. That is probably one of the few things I appreciate about this body. But still, I suppose my stone body has its limits. Even white magic cannot cure the common cold, much to Amelia's dismay. I knew she felt bad seeing me sick, but I told her not to worry about it. _

_But, Amelia being Amelia, she was determined to at least find some way to offer me some comfort. So, she went to Albert, a man who owns a shop in Seyrune that sells healing herbs, potions and other concoctions. However, while selling is his main job, Albert's real passion is studying and researching ancient texts and scrolls in the Seyrune library. In fact, the library was where I first met Albert. I found him hunched over, eyes squinting as he was attempting to translate a scroll. I noticed that it was a rune language I was familiar with and helped him translate. _

_Since then, Albert and I have had many discussions about ancient texts and scrolls. Once in a while, he also helped in my research to find a cure for myself. However, while Albert is quite an intelligent man he is also rather eccentric. He sometimes gets so focused on what he's studying, he'll become totally oblivious to what's happening around him. _

_I am not exaggerating. Once when Amelia had invited him over for lunch, he talked for an hour about ancient runes before noticing that his elbow was in the soup the entire time._

_Anyway, Amelia went to Albert's shop to see if he had anything to help me with my cold. However, it turned out that Albert wasn't there. Apparently, he was visiting his sister who lived outside Seyrune. His assistant Marcus was minding the shop and that's where the real trouble started. Marcus had given Amelia what he thought to be ground up unicorn root. It's a bitter tasting root but it's been known to cure illness._

_So, Amelia brought it back to the palace, made it into some tea and gave it to me. As soon as it touched my tongue, my body wanted to spit it out. I'm not sure if I could even describe the taste. It was beyond vile. "Amelia what is this?"_

"_Unicorn root. I've heard it's bitter."_

"_Amelia I've had unicorn root, this is not it." _

_I can speak from experience. As a child, Rezo would always shove it down my throat whenever I was sick. It's hard to forget a taste that has been engraved onto your tastebud._

"_Well, maybe it's a different kind of unicorn root."_

_I raised an eyebrow. I seriously doubted that there was more than one kind. If there was, I'm sure Rezo would have had me drink all of them._

"_Either way, I'm sure it will help your cold."_

_I blew my nose and was ready to argue that I refused to drink something that tasted like Xellos's cooking. Yes, it was that disgusting. But, then she gave me the look. I don't mean the infamous angry wife glare. It was the opposite, the innocent wide eye pleading look. Personally, I think it overpowers Lina's angry glare any day. I was defeated the minute I saw it._

_I sighed, braced myself for the terrible thing my body was going to hate me for and gulped down the tea. It took every ounce of will power I had to keep it down._

_The things one must do for love._

_Amelia gave me a hug. "See, that wasn't so bad was it?"_

"_That's debatable." I muttered._

_Yet, surprisingly, a few hours later I did feel better. My nose didn't not stop running, but I felt much more...energetic. That night, I found myself very eager when Amelia came into our bedroom. She was still wearing the long gown she had worn to the council meeting. It was one of her simpler gowns, and had worn many times before. For some reason though, I found her to be more alluring than ever. Before I let her ask how I was feeling, I grabbed her and pulled her into bed. She yelped in surprise, but I grinned and I quieted her with a kiss and then..._

"EW! EW! GROSS!" Zack threw the book across the room. He hugged himself and couldn't stop shuddering. He had almost read about his parents kissing! Why did adults have to be so yucky?! It was bad enough he had to see his parents being all kissy face at the breakfast table, but did his dad have to write about it too?! Parents were weird...

Zack shook himself, hoping that the image of his parents kissing would fall out of his memory. He considered to stop reading the journal. Zack didn't want to run the risk of imagining his parents kissing again. But his curiosity still proved to be stronger than his revulsion.

Gingerly he lifted the book as if it was about to bite him. He squinted his eyes at the pages and barely looked at them until he deemed he was safely past the kissing part and began to read again.

_Needless to say, Amelia was just astounded as I was at my sudden energy. We both assumed it was just a sign of my feeling better. My cold went away, and we didn't think of it again until a month later. However, it soon appeared to be Amelia's turn to be sick. Her stomach was bothering her a lot. I was worried Amelia had caught some sort of flu, but she assured me it was nothing and that she was going to see Sylphiel about it. _

_I decided to put my worrying aside, but was proven wrong a few days later. Amelia and I had just returned from seeing Lina and Gourry. Their son Rowen had just turned six months old. He seemed to be quite good at keeping his parents busy. Rowen certainly inherited his parents' appetite. I've never seen a baby eat so much and be so happy while doing it. During our visit, Amelia seemed distracted. Then, when Lina handed Rowen to Amelia, her eyes seemed to light up. Amelia would look at Rowen and then back to me as if the two of them shared some secret._

_I digress. Barely minutes after we returned, we received a message that Albert had come and desperately needed to see us. It was apparently very urgent_. _We entered the parlor. Albert was sitting on the couch with his fingers rapidly tapping on his knees. He sprang to his feet as soon as he spotted us._

"_Zelgadis! Finally!" He rushed over to me and grabbed my arm. "Tell me my boy, are you feeling all right?! Any strange aches or pains?"_

"_Um...no?"_

_Albert then seized my collar and pulled me down_. _"You don't appear pale? Have you had any recent hallucinations? Any strange abnormal cravings?"_

"_No, no and no!" I yelled as I wiggled free. "Albert I'm fine! Why are you questioning my health all of a sudden?"_

_Albert rubbed his temples. "My apologies, but I was concerned for you when I realized you had accidently taken part in my experiment."_

_My eyes widened. "Experiment?"_

_Albert sighed and turned to Amelia. "Princess Amelia, I understand that you came to my shop asking for unicorn root while I was away."_

"_Yes, it was for Zelgadis's cold," Amelia replied, sounding worried. "But it seemed to work."_

"_No, that would be impossible because my assistant did not give you unicorn root." Amelia and I exchanged surprised expressions as Albert sat back down on the couch and folded his arms. "That powder he gave you was actually part of my research of a plant called 'Little Blessing'."_

"_Wait, isn't that a flower?" Amelia asked._

"_Correct, it is a very rare white flower that only grows in a certain part of this country."_

_Now, I felt even more befuddled. Albert didn't appear to be the type to study plant life. Albert seemed to read my mind and answered my question. "I was researching this flower because it appeared to have been very important to local villages during ancient times. It was a vital plant to have during spring festivals, but I have yet to discover why. I had thought the flower contained magical properties..."_

"_And that's why you ground it up?" I asked. _

_Albert nodded. "I was going to experiment on it to see if there were any magical properties, but alas Marcus mistook the powder for unicorn root. When I realized what had occurred, I was worried that it may have had some ill effects on you. Are you sure you haven't felt strange at any time?"_

"_No, I've been fine..." I then paused and suddenly recalled how energetic I had been that night with Amelia, but I wasn't about to tell Albert that. The man would no doubt ask me a million questions and I refused to have him interview me on that subject._

"_Zelgadis?"_

"_I'm fine" I said quickly. "There haven't been any changes."_

"_That's not true." Amelia replied, quietly. She was blushing bright red. "Zelgadis, I was going to tell you in private, but...well...I'm pregnant."_

_Silence fell upon the room. I couldn't speak or move. For a brief moment, I was positive I was having one of those weird dreams where Xellos comes out wearing a chicken suit. Once I realized it wasn't a dream, I attempted to move my lips, but I found my tongue was still tied. "Amelia..but..that's..."_

_However, my words were canceled out as Albert suddenly yelled "OF COURSE!!" He clapped his hands. "It all makes sense now. The 'Little Blessing' must contain properties that causes men to be temporarily more fertile, especially for men like you my friend,"Albert patted me on the shoulder, "Who would normally be sterile and therefore unable to reproduce. That would also explain why it was so greatly used during the spring festivals. Oh, I must get home right away and write this down." Albert then gleefully shook Amelia's hand. "Thank you princess! You have been a great help to me!" _

_And with that, Albert ran out leaving a cloud of dust behind him. Amelia blinked, confused, and stared at me. "Mr. Albert...isn't one to fully see the situation is he?"_

_I coughed. "No he isn't." I sat down in the armchair and folded my hands. I knew we had to get back to the issue at hand. "So...you're pregnant? Are you sure?"_

_Amelia sat in the chair next to me. "Yes, I went to see Ms. Sylphiel and she confirmed it. I must admit I didn't believe it at first either. However..." Amelia blushed "It's normally that 'time of the month' for me by now. I noticed it was being very late this month and then when I went to see Ms. Sylphiel..."_

_I could see where Amelia was going and I nodded. Still, a part of me couldn't believe it. A baby? We're actually going to become parents? It still seemed so impossible. Amelia and I had accepted a long time ago that since I was a chimera it wasn't likely that we could have children, but for this to happen..._

"_But isn't it wonderful Zelgadis?" Amelia beamed. "We're going to have a baby!"_

_I said nothing. Amelia frowned and touched my arm. "Zelgadis aren't you happy?"_

"_I'm not sure yet." _

_I quickly regretted my words as Amelia bit her lip. "Did you not want a baby?"_

"_No. That's not what I meant. It's just that..." I rubbed my eyes, determining how to describe my feelings. "I gave up the idea of becoming a father a long time ago." This was the truth. I only thought about becoming a father briefly when I was younger. However, the day that Rezo changed me into a chimera, fatherhood became something else I would be unable to achieve in this stone body. But now, becoming a father felt so unreal. It was like I could finally hold a solid object that I had seen only in my dreams._

_I turned to Amelia. "It's not that I don't want to a baby, I just never thought of it as a possibility. Besides, I'm not sure I'll make a proper father anyway."_

"_But you will!" Amelia assured me. "I will admit that I'm nervous about becoming a mother, but it will be alright. We'll learn together."_

_I gave a half smile. I could always count on Amelia to look on the bright side._

"_And if you're really worried about being a father, I'm sure that Daddy can give you some lessons."_

_However, I can also count on Amelia to have bad ideas as well._

_Needless to say, the next people we told the news were Lina and Gourry. They were both thrilled for us. Prince Phil was more than happy at the idea of becoming a grandfather and began making plans on teaching our child the full meaning of "justice". I then made my own plans of trying to keep our child as sane as possible._

_The months passed and the notion of becoming a father began to grow on me. However, there was one thing I was dreading. How much would my future child look like me? We were unsure whether the baby would inherit my blue skin. Amelia said it didn't matter to her what the baby looked like, but it mattered to me. I feared our child feeling like a freak while growing up and, worst of all, blaming me for it. I wasn't sure if I could handle that. I even had a couple of nightmares about it._

_Finally, the day arrived. Amelia and I were in the middle of a game of chess, when suddenly Amelia gripped the edge of the table in pain. All she had to do was look up at me and say "It's coming" for me to understand._

_Now, I have to say, I rarely panic. In any situation or danger, I'm always the one to stay calm. However, when Amelia was ready to give birth, my mind became blank. I could barely remember what I was supposed to do or even which room we were in. I suppose it's a normal reaction for fathers to have as I recalled Gourry reacting in a similar fashion when Rowen was born. Thankfully, Amelia stayed calm enough and we went into our bedroom. She then asked me to call for the midwife and, of course, Lina and Gourry. We would have also informed Phil, but he was away on a diplomatic mission at the time._

_Lina and Gourry arrived just seconds after the midwife entered our bedroom. In fact, I believe that Lina used a Raywing, because I was certain I heard Gourry's scream of terror as they flew. Lina rushed in carrying little Rowen in her arms. The toddler seemed to have had enjoyed the flight because he was giggling and clapping his hands in delight. Gourry staggered to his feet and looked quite pale. He stared at Rowen and said in a deadpan tone "Well, I'm glad somebody had fun."_

_At that point, the women took over. Lina plunked Rowen into Gourry's arms and, along with the midwife, shoved all of us men out of the room. Apparently, the room was being declared a 'no men' zone. _

_The next few hours were an eternity. I sat in a chair, anxiously tapping my foot, while staring at the door. Gourry patted my shoulder in sympathy. "Don't worry Zel. She'll be fine."_

_I sighed. "I just hate having to wait like this." _

"_I was the same way," Gourry replied as he set Rowen on the floor. "But Amelia is like Lina, she's a strong girl. She'll be fine." _

_Before I could reply, a sharp sound cut through the air. It was the sound of a baby cry. _

_The midwife reappeared and told me I was allowed to enter. I gulped and did so. Amelia sat up in the bed, covered in sweat, but she was smiling in complete bliss. She held a small bundle. Lina looked up, smiled and gave me a thumbs up. "Congrats Zel, you got a son."_

_I said nothing and just let my feet take over. Lina was grinning from ear to ear. Silently, I went to Amelia's side and looked at my newborn son. I then had the next biggest shock of my life. My son was neither blue nor made of stone. He was the same peachy colour as Amelia. There was a thin layer of blue hair on his head and his ears were pointed. He looked more human than I had in years._

_While I stared at my child and gaping in shock, I suddenly realized Gourry was next to me. I heard him comment,"He kind of looks like an elf." I then heard a bonk, which was probably Lina's hitting Gourry's head._

"_You Jelly-fish brain!"_

"_What, it's not a bad thing! Besides it's true." _

_Naturally, I tuned them out. Amelia asked me if I wanted to hold our son and without waiting for a reply, she put him in my arms. He felt so small and so fragile. I was terrified of dropping him and held him close to my chest. I can't fully describe what I felt at that moment. I suppose one might say it was a parent's instinct. Just looking at him made me want to shelter and protect him from the world. Amelia's smile told me that she also felt the same way._

_We decided to name our son Zackery, or Zack for short. Lina commented that it seemed to suit him, I wasn't sure if that was a good sign or a bad sign. For Zack's middle name, I had wanted to name him in honour of Zolf and Rodimus. Amelia agreed, although Gourry pointed out that it was a very long name to give someone. However, that tends to be a tradition in Royal families._

_Phil was ecstatic when he returned. I think there's a good chance of him becoming one of those grandparents that spoil their grandchildren._

_Later, Lina explained that she wasn't fully surprised at my son's appearance. Apparently, she had theorized that even though I was only one-third human, Amelia was fully human. Therefore, my son would logically be more human than brau demon or golem. I felt like an idiot for never thinking of that conclusion. _

_I also felt rather annoyed that Lina didn't tell me her theory eariler. I spent that last nine months worrying over this and turns out it was all for nothing. I then asked her why she didn't tell me._

_Her reply: "What, and ruin the surprise?"_

_Lina Inverse has a twisted sense of humour. _

_And so, Zack is now six months old and I had recently felt the urge to write all of this down. Why? I'm not sure. Perhaps it's because I may wish to someday tell Zack the story of his birth and I don't wish to forget any important details. He has to be one of the biggest changes I ever had in my life... _

"Zack what are you doing in here?"

The boy jumped and glanced up. "Dad? When did you get in here?"

Zelgadis knelt down. "I noticed the storage door was open and I came in to..." The chimera paused as his eyes focused in on the object in Zack's hand. "Are you reading my journal?"

"Um...no...yes...um which answer won't get me into trouble?"

Zelgadis sighed and took the book. "I knew I should have put a lock on this thing. How much did you read?"

Zack blushed a little. "Well...um the first part about me being born."

Zelgadis smile soften. "Ah, I see."

"Dad was I really that big of a surprise?"

The chimera rustled his son's hair. "Far more than you can imagine."

"But...it was a good surprise."

Zelgadis smiled. "Yes, a very good one. Now let's go, your mother is looking for you."

The boy got up. Zelgadis put the journal on a high shelf and hopefully out the reach of curious children. It was then Zelgadis had a sudden realization. "Zack, you read the whole story?"

"Yes." Zack replied.

"Even..." He wasn't sure he wanted to know. "The part about your mother and I..."

Zack blinked and then stuck his tongue out in disgust. "Ew! Dad I skipped over that gross part!"

"Gross part?"

"The part about you and Mom kissing."

"...You think we were just kissing?"

Zack tilted his head. "Yeah...Why, were you doing something else?"

The chimera blushed and grabbed his son by the hand. "Let's go."

"Dad you didn't answer me."

"And it's something I won't answer until you're 30."

"Dad!"

* * *

_**Author's Note:**__ So, this is the back story on Zack and it's an idea I had even before I started to write these drabbles. I got the idea when some Slayers fans pointed out on LiveJournal that since Zel was a chimera it was unlikely he could have children. Well, me being me, I couldn't leave that little detail alone and it developed into this story._ ; 


	5. The Tooth of the Matter

"The Tooth of the Matter"

Lina peeked into the bedroom. The door creaked, but to Lina's ear it sounded like a scream. For a spilt second she was positive that Rowen was going to wake up. Remarkably, her son remained asleep. Lina sighed in relief and wrapped her robe more tightly around her. This was stupid. She was sneaking around like a burglar in the middle of the night, in her own house.

It was all Gourry's fault. The man was so going to pay for this. When Rowen had lost his tooth earlier that morning he should have checked with her before telling that story. She had walked in just as Gourry was telling it to Rowen.

"When kids lose their teeth, they put them under their pillows when they're sleeping."

"Dad, why would they do that?" Rowen asked. Then his eyes widened. "Is it some kind of magic spell?"

Gourry shook his head. "No. A fairy will come to take it."

"Why?"

"She collects teeth."

Rowen stared long and hard at the small tooth. "She's weird."

Lina had nodded in agreement. At least Rowen wasn't taking the story seriously, until Gourry said "And she leaves a copper piece in exchange."

Lina's jaw dropped. She was planning to jump in and quickly change the conversation, but it was too late. The damage was done when she saw Rowen grin in excitement.

"Really Dad? If I leave this tooth under my pillow she'll leave me money?"

"Just a copper piece, but yes."

"Wow! Gee, I wonder if I can get another tooth out before tonight?" Rowen dashed from the room, with dreams of money forming in his mind.

Lina swooped in and bonked Gourry on the head. "You jelly-fish brain! Why did you make up that story?"

Gourry rubbed his aching head. "I didn't make it up."

Lina snorted. "Oh please! A fairy that takes teeth? Why would a fairy want a human's tooth? They don't even like humans. They..."

"I know that!" Gourry replied. "It's just an old tradition where I come from."

Lina blinked. "Say what?"

"When a kid loses a tooth parents tell them a tooth fairy will come and leave a present or money. Then that night parents sneak in and leave the kid a present."

"Why would they do that?" Lina asked, her eyes twitching. She couldn't understand why anyone would bother wasting money on a tooth.

"It just for fun Lina. My Mom did it for me. Besides you don't want to disappoint Rowen now. You saw how excited he was."

Lina sighed, defeated. "Fine, but Gourry you do realize this means we're going have to stay up until he falls asleep to do this."

Gourry hugged her. "Don't worry. I started it, so I'll do it. You won't have to do a thing."

_Yeah, right._ Lina thought. Gourry had stayed up and Lina had gone to bed. However, when she woke up to use the bathroom she found Gourry outside Rowen's bedroom, asleep. She shook her head and was ready to wake him up, yet to her dismay he just looked too content to wake up.

So she took the one copper piece he had been holding, draped a blanket over him and set out to get Rowen's tooth. "It's a curse to be kind hearted," she thought as she tip toed her way in. Lina had to be careful to not step on the toys. The floor was covered with stuffed animals, wooden daggers and books in each direction. _I have to remember to tell Rowen to clean his room. _Then she stubbed her toe on Rowen's toolbox. Lina had to bite her tongue to stop from crying aloud. _He is so cleaning his room tomorrow!_

As the pain faded, Lina suddenly took notice that Rowen's desk was covered in tools, and pieces of wood and metal. _I wonder what he's working on this time? _she thought. Rowen had inherited his love of magic from her, but the boy also loved to invent things. The last thing he was working was a gadget that could automatically make toast without the use of a fire or a stove. He said he was going to call it a "toaster." Truthfully, Lina couldn't see many people wanting to buy it, although Zelgadis seemed very interested in the idea for some reason.

Getting back to the task at hand, Lina crept to Rowen's bed. She noticed the boy had managed to kick his blanket off himself, again. Lina's motherly instinct took over and placed the blanket on top of him. For a brief moment, she just stared at Rowen._ Kids are so cute when they're asleep. When they're like this it's hard to believe they can also be masters of destruction._ Lina smiled and gently slipped her hand under the pillow. Carefully and slowly, Lina moved her fingers to find the tooth. Suddenly, the tips of her fingers felt something hard.

"_Gotcha!"_ Lina grinned in triumph. Her hand moved in further. _"This is a piece of cake. I don't know why I was so stressed out. This is..."_

SNAP!

Lina's mental victory cheer came to a screeching halt. Something very large had slammed down onto her fingers. Lina felt as if a hammer had just whacked her fingers. It took every single amount of will power for Lina to resist the urge of yanking out her hand and screaming every single curse word in her mental vocabulary. Lips trembling, Lina pulled out her hand.

To her shock, her fingers was caught in a small wooden cage. It was a similar cage to those that Gourry used to catch wild animals alive, only smaller. The thing that had used her fingers as target practice was the cage door. Lina stared down at Rowen bewildered. "_Just what in Ceiphied's name is this kid thinking?!!"_ She was tempted to wake the boy and demand an explanation, but the mother in her managed to hold her tongue, slip a copper piece beneath the pillow and leave without a word.

The following morning, Gourry let loose a yawn as he strolled in. "Morning Lina."

Lina looked up from the morning paper and glared. "Morning," she said in a tense voice.

Gourry blinked. "What's with you?" He poured himself some coffee. "Didn't you sleep well?"

Lina tapped her toes impatiently. "Think Gourry, wasn't there something you were suppose to do last night?"

The swordsman swirled the coffee in his cup. "Something I was supposed..." His face paled and he cursed. "Rowen! I forgot!" He put the cup aside and began to dash out of the room. "If I hurry I might be able to get in before..."

"Relax Jelly-fish brain, I took care of it."

Gourry slammed on the brakes and whirled around. "You did?"

Lina sighed. "I found you asleep and decided to take care of it for you."

"Oh, well that's a relief." Gourry picked up his cup and sat down. "Then what's eating you?"

Lina glared, fully tempted to pour her coffee into his lap. "Getting that tooth wasn't easy Gourry."

"Oh come on. It couldn't been that..."

At that moment, Lina folded the paper and reveal her bandaged hand. Gourry could only stare in shock. "How did that..."

He found himself caught off as Rowen sleepily entered the kitchen. "Morning, Mom. Morning Dad."

"Uh...hi," Gourry replied, still slighting shocked. "So, did the tooth fairy come?"

He felt an icy glare from Lina as he said this.

Rowen slumped into the kitchen chair. "Yeah, she came and left me a copper piece."

The swordsman frowned. In his experience, kids were normally ecstatic to find something left by the tooth fairy, but Rowen was acting as if he just found a dirty sock. "Um...Rowen, aren't you glad to get the money?"

Rowen sighed. "Oh, I'm glad for the money, but my trap didn't work."

"Trap?" Gourry looked to Lina whose glare had just become colder. "Um...why did you have a trap."

"I was trying to catch the tooth fairy."

Lina's icy glare finally broke. "The tooth fairy?" She raised an eyebrow. "What were you planning to do? Kidnap her and hold her for ransom?"

Rowen shook his head. "I just wanted to haggle with her."

Lina exchanged surprised expressions with Gourry. "Haggle?"

"My tooth is worth way more than one copper piece." Rowen eased back into the chair and folded his arms. "I wanted to see if I could convince her to give me a silver piece. Maybe even a gold."

Lina's jaw dropped. "Rowen, where on earth did you get an idea like that?"

The boy stared up. "Where? You're always telling me and Lori that you should always try to get a better deal when selling or buying stuff."

Lina was speechless. She turned to her husband, who was chuckling and smirking. "He gets it from you."

Rowen drummed his fingers on the table. "Hmm...maybe I should make the trap from iron next time?"

It suddenly occurred to Lina that Rowen still had more teeth yet to come out, and who wasn't to say he wouldn't try the same thing when Lori started to lose her teeth? There was most likely going to be years of this. The sorceress groaned and made a mental promise to make sure it was Gourry who did it next time.


	6. The Day The Boogieman Died

"_The Day the Boogieman Died"_

It is a well documented fact that of the most beloved sensations in existence, the greatest is the feeling of being able to take off your shoes at the end of a long day. Zelgadis was more than happy to slip off his shoes as he entered his bedroom. His day had been very productive, but also exhausting. Zelgadis had spent his early morning discussing with the Captain of the guard about improving the defenses of the castle. In the afternoon, he visited Sylphiel to help translate new scrolls on white magic that she had recently acquired. Finally, he had spent the rest of the day in the library with Lina. Half the time they were researching and the other half Zelgadis spent dodging as Lina threw books at his head when he had teased her one too many times.

The chimera was relieved that the day was over and the idea of crawling into bed was heavenly. Amelia was already in bed half asleep, so Zelgadis did his best to remain quiet as he put on his nightshirt and crawled under the covers. Swiftly, he got comfortable and slipped his arms around his wife. Amelia gave a sleepy smile as Zelgadis closed his eyes. Sleep was never going to feel this good. Nothing was going to stop him.

"MOMMY! DADDY!"

Zelgadis's eyes flew open. "No," he silently prayed.

"MOMMY! DADDY!"

He heard Amelia groan. "Not tonight. Please not tonight..."

Their dread increased tenfold as they heard the sound of small fast paced feet running down the hall.

Before Zelgadis could make one more silent plea, the bedroom door flew open. The chimera grunted as he felt a small body fling itself onto the bed, landing right on his stomach. Zelgadis did everything he could to ignore the small hand frantically shaking his shoulder. "DADDY! DADDY! WAKE UP!"

Unwillingly, Zelgadis opened his eyes and stared into the face of his quivering son. "Zack, can't this wait until morning?"

Zack shook his head wildly. "There's a monster under my bed!"

Zelgadis breathed deeply to cool his temper. He was in no mood for this, but nonetheless he did not want to take his frustration out on his young son. In a composed voice, Zelgadis said "There is no monster under your bed."

"There is! There is!"

Amelia, now fully awake, sat up. "Zack, sweetie, we've been through this. As we told you last night, and the night before that, and every other night this past week, there is no monster under your bed."

"But there is Mommy!" Zack argued. "He just poked his head out and stuck his tongue out at me!"

"I'm sure you were just dreaming," Zelgadis said in a firm tone.

"No, I wasn't!" Zack replied, in an equally firm tone as his father. "He's under my bed right now!"

Zelgadis sighed and glanced to Amelia. "It's your turn tonight, I believe"

Amelia lay her head down on her pillows. "No, it's yours."

Zelgadis raised an eyebrow. "But didn't I do it last night?"

Amelia rolled on her side, holding up two fingers. "Yes, but I did it two nights in a row before that. You owe me, besides I have a meeting in the morning."

Zelgadis mentally cursed Amelia's logical excuses. He crawled out of his warm bed, put on his robe and let his son led him to his bedroom. Upon entering, Zelgadis repeated the exact same routine he had been doing the past week. He crawled on his knees, lifted the blanket hanging on the side and peeked under the bed. Minus a couple of socks and a stray shoe, there was nothing.

"I don't see a monster."

Shocked, Zack lay flat on his stomach as he too looked underneath. "But Daddy, he was here! I swear."

"I'm sure you were just having a nightmare, son," Zelgadis said, longing to end this conversation and return to his warm bed.

"No I wasn't," Zack replied thoughtfully, sitting up and folding his arms. "I'll bet he disappeared because you were coming and he'll come back as soon as you leave."

"Zack..." Zelgadis rubbed his tired eyes, forcing himself to recall what the joy of fatherhood was.

The boy titled his head to one side, staring at him with his big round pleading eyes. "Daddy, can I sleep with you and Mommy again tonight?"

"No," Zelgadis instantly replied, in a tone close to a growl. "Zack, this has gone on far enough. There is no monster, except the one you keep imagining in that little head of yours." He gently tapped Zack's forehead. "You are going to sleep in your own bed tonight and that is final."

Zack stared at his bed, biting his lower lip. "Can you sleep here with me tonight?"

Zelgadis buried his head into his hands. _"He must get this from his mother's side of the family.."_ However, he was too tried to argue any more. "Fine, I'll stay here until you fall asleep, but that's it."

Zack grinned with relief as his father scooped him up and tucked him in. Zelgadis then laid himself next to his son. It took him a moment to find a comfortable position since Zack's bed was much smaller than the giant one he and Amelia shared. Once he found a good spot, Zelgadis looked directly at Zack. "Now, go to sleep."

Not taking notice of his father's annoyed stare, Zack nestled against him. It wasn't long before the boy had fallen asleep and the only noise in the room were Zack's soft snores. Zelgadis stroked his son's head. "Finally, now I can get some sleep," he muttered and prepared for his escape. However, it was then that he clued in to the fact that Zack was using his arm as a pillow. It would be nearly impossible for Zelgadis to lift his arm without waking up his son and thus repeating the entire process. Grumbling under his breath, Zelgadis threw the blanket over himself. Already feeling some of his bones and joints aching from the awkward position his body was in, Zelgadis knew it was going to be a long night.

08080808080808080

"So then, I told the council that raising the taxes would be unjust, but they kept insisting it was the only way to fix up the old temples." Amelia sighed, shaking her head at the memory. "It kept going back and fourth, until Daddy stepped in and told them that we should just think about it for now."

Sylphiel patted her hand in sympathy. "That must have been annoying."

Amelia nodded. "I can understand their reasoning, but it felt like I was talking to a brick wall. What do you think Lina?"

Lina said nothing, with both her eyes shut, her head leaning on her hands. Amelia blinked in confusion. Lina had been acting odd all day. She barely said "Hi" to her and hardly reacted when Sylphiel suggested they go to lunch at her favorite restaurant. Amelia was getting a little worried. "Um...Miss Lina?" Sylphiel asked, also unsettled about their friend.

A small trail of drool began to roll down Lina's mouth and they heard a half grumble. Amelia gap, then twitched in annoyance. Lina had fallen asleep! To fall asleep while a friend was talking, how unjust. In a quick, sharp yell, Amelia cried "Lina!"

At the sudden yell, Lina awoke, startled, and almost tumbled from her seat. "Who? What?" she asked in a daze.

Amelia tapped her foot, while Sylphiel blinked in surprised. "Miss Lina, were you asleep?"

Lina blushed, sheepishly. "What? No, I um...ah...maybe just a brief cat nap."

Amelia huffed. "I'm sorry if I bored you to sleep."

"What? No, that wasn't it." Lina sighed. "I'm sorry Amelia, but I haven't getting a lot of sleep lately."

Amelia forget about her annoyance and stared at her friend curiously. "Really? Why? Has Gourry been snoring again?"

Lina scoffed. "I wish that was the problem." She leaned back in her chair, staring up at the ceiling. "It's the kids. Rowen and Lori are convinced there's a monster in their closet."

Amelia's eyes widened.

"A monster, really?" Sylphiel asked, surprised. "Where would they get that idea?"

Lina grumbled. "I don't know, but every night they come into our bedroom screaming that there's a monster. Gourry and I spend half the night trying to convince them there isn't one only to have them end up sleeping in our bed." She slammed her fist on the table. "If I ever find out who told them this..."

"You guys too?"

All eyes turned to Amelia. "Too?" Lina asked.

"Zack thinks there's a monster under his bed. It's been driving Zelgadis and I crazy."

"Oh dear," Sylphiel replied. "But, that's odd that both your children are claiming that there are monsters in their rooms."

Lina shook her head. "Not really. I'll bet the three of them heard or read a scary story about a monster that hides in kids' bedrooms."

Amelia nodded. That sounded plausible. "So, what do we do about it? I don't think I can take another week of this."

Lina grinned. "Simple, we'll just go and kill the monster." Upon seeing the baffled expressions, Lina continued. "Look, just telling the kids there is no monster is not helping much. So, we'll play along." Lina folded her hands. "You and Zelgadis bring Zack to sleep over at our house tonight. Then when the kids begin screaming about the monster, we'll go in and pretend to have a big battle with him."

Amelia's eyes brightened. "So then we'll pretend to kill the monster. The kids will have to think that the monster is dead and no longer there."

"Exactly!" Lina cheered as she stabbed her fork into her roasted potatoes.

"I can see it being a good plan," Sylphiel replied. "But isn't it a bit wrong to lie to your children?"

Amelia patted her shoulder. "Normally, I would agree it is unjust, however, it is also unjust to let the kids continue to be scared."

"Not to mention for us not to be getting our rightly deserved full night of sleep," Lina replied, while taking a sip of her drink. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to finish my lunch. Monster killing takes a lot of energy."

As planned, later that day, Amelia and Zelgadis surprised Zack by telling him all three of them would be spending the night at Lina and Gourry's. Zack thought it was a little odd and sudden, but was thrilled at the idea of sleeping over and spending the night with his friends. Lori was also excited at the idea of having Zack sleep over. Rowen, however, was rather suspicious of the whole ordeal. But, he went along with it anyway, since he couldn't see anything wrong with the idea. Besides, maybe the monster would be scared if there were three children instead of two. When bedtime came, the adults tucked their children into bed, ventured into the living room and waited.

Zelgadis sipped at his much needed coffee. He still felt drained from the previous night. "Are you sure this is going to work, Lina?"

"Positive, as long as we make it believable." Lina stretched out her arms to release the kinks. "We just have to take the children out of the room, shut the door and make loud noises. The kids will think the evil monster has been defeated and then we can finally sleep."

Gourry frowned. "I'm not so sure Lina."

Lina raised an eyebrow. "What? Are you afraid your acting skills are rusty?"

He shook his head. "It's not that. I mean, what if the kids aren't imagining? What if there is something in their closet?"

Zelgadis stared, puzzled. He knew Gourry wasn't the brightest star in the sky, but the man had always had common sense. "Gourry, that's ridiculous. Everyone knows there is no such thing as a 'monster hiding in closets or under the bed'. It's a story, a myth to scare children and drive their parents insane."

"I know..." Gourry replied hesitantly.

"Then why are you thinking otherwise?" Amelia asked, perplexed.

Gourry stared at his reflection in his cup of coffee. "Look, if it was just Lori and Zack, I wouldn't think much of it. They're young, so it's expected, but Rowen..." He drummed his fingers. "It doesn't make sense. Rowen is mature for his age and I can't picture him claiming there is a monster unless there really is one."

Lina rolled her eyes. "You're worrying too much Jelly-fish brain. Rowen may be mature, but he's still a kid. Plus, we've both looked in their closet and found nothing. I'm sure it was the same for Amelia and Zel when they looked under Zack's bed."

The chimera nodded. "Correct. The only evidence I saw was that Zack needs to clean his room, and that's all."

Lina grinned. "See! You're making too much out of it."

Before Gourry could argue further, a loud cry came from the children's bedroom. Lina cracked her knuckles. "That's our cue guys. Let's go."

In one swift move, the adults raced to the room. Lina flung the door open. "All right kids! Get out! We're teaching that monster a lesson!" The three children stared stunned, but were quickly ushered out by Amelia. The princess slammed the door shut, making everything pitch black. "Alright!" Lina cried, preparing herself for her mock battle and took a step forward. "Let me just cast a lighting spell, then we... WHOA!"

Lina accidently tripped over a stray toy that had been left on the floor. Falling to the floor, her hand flew out to grab onto anything to stop her. She grasped what felt to be someone's shirt only to bring that person down with her. To end the collision the two of them bumped with another body and into a loud thud, crashed to the ground.

"Lina, are you alright?!" Amelia called out.

Lina grumbled as she rubbed her sore nose. "Ow! Yeah, I'm fine, but I landed on somebody." From what she could feel, the person had a lean frame. "Sorry, Zel, but you shouldn't have gotten in my way like that."

"...Lina, I'm over here with Amelia."

That took Lina by surprise. "Gourry?"

There was a grunt. "I'm on the floor, but you're not on top of me."

Lina froze. If she wasn't on any of them, then who was she sitting on?

Right then, the door opened and Lori poked her head in. "Mommy? Are you okay..."

Lina didn't answer. None of the adults did. From the light of the door, they had a clear view of who or what the sorceress was sitting on. It was a small green goblin- like creature. His clothes were ragged, torn and dirty. His arms were twitching as his eyes swirled around in a daze.

"What..." was all Amelia could say, as Lina climbed off the strange creature. "What...who?"

Gourry's eyes narrowed. He roughly grabbed the creature by his neck. "Kids, is this the monster you've been seeing?"

"That's him!" Rowen yelled, venomously, while protectively staying close to Lori.

Zelgadis gaped. "You mean...there really was a monster?"

"I told you Daddy!" Zack replied, grinning smugly.

Zelgadis sighed. _"He's going to be holding this over my head for a long time."_

"Let me see this monster!" Lina said, as she forced herself out of shock and stomped over to get a closer look. Her lips were set in a firm line as she stared at the monster, who was slowly coming out of his daze. He was too small to be a goblin, yet he was green and had pointed ears and sharp teeth. What could it be? Then it hit her. "It's a bogle."

"A what?" Gourry asked.

"A bogle," Zelgadis replied. "They're creatures that love to scare and torment humans, but it's odd for one to be out here."

Amelia nodded. "Don't they usually live deep in the woods?"

"Most of the time," Lina said, not taking her eyes off the creature. "They do like to sneak into people's homes, but they usually pick homes near to their woods. It's strange that it would come into a city like Seyrune."

"Perhaps, I can explain."

Everyone turned to the new figure standing behind the children. "What the? Xellos? When did you get here?"

Xellos leaned on his staff. "Oh, around the time you all came charging in here."

Zelgadis growled. "I should have known you had something to do with this."

"Oh, I can assure you, I had no idea this was going on. I only realized recently that Boogie had been hiding here."

"Boogie?" Gourry said. Hearing his name, the bogle fully awoke. "What? Who?" His little beady eyes zoomed in on Xellos. "Master Xellos! On no!" He struggled, breaking to get free. "Let me go you giant ape or suffer my wraft!"

Gourry pulled the Boogie up to his eyes level and muttered darkly. "Try me." The glare silenced him and Boogie stopped struggling.

Xellos coughed. "As I was saying, I've been searching for Boogie for a while. Beast Master is dying to have a word with him."

"What on earth would a Mazoku lord want with this thing?" Lina asked, pointing in disgust at Boogie.

"Oh, she just wants to punish him for breaking her favorite china." Xellos smilied. "You see, Boogie works for Lord Beast Master. He does various lowly tasks, such as cleaning, dusting, feeding her wolves, serving drinks, et cetera."

"You mean, he's a butler?" Rowen asked, slightly shocked at such a concept.

"I prefer the title 'Professional Servant' thank you very much," Boogie sharply replied.

Lina glared at him, then returned her attention to Xellos. "Okay, I get why you've been looking for him, but why the hell has he been hiding in our kids' rooms?'

"I imagine that he thought it was the last place I would look for him and he is a bogle. Scaring children is his hobby."

"It's not a hobby, it's an art!" Boogie snapped as he started to wiggle again. It was then, Gourry decided to let go and let the bogle fall with a loud thud. He figured that since Xellos and everyone else had him circled, the bogle couldn't escape far.

Rubbing his sore bottom, Boogie continued his rant. "People have no idea how complicated scaring children can be!" He counted off his fingers. "The timing has to be right, you have to wait forever for the parents to leave and don't get me started on how messy some places are." He glared at the three children. "Would it kill you three to tidy up your closets or clean under your bed once in awhile? Seriously, I've seen dog houses more organized..."

"Alright Boogie, I believe that is enough," Xellos cut him off, not wishing for Boogie to go into one of his famous 'cleaning' rants.

The bogle sighed, folding his arms. "I presume you're going to take me to Lord Beast Master to receive my punishment?"

Xellos grinned, like he was about to reveal the punch line of a well planned joke. "Yes, however, I don't believe that Lord Beast Master will punish you." Boogie stared confused, so Xellos continued. "You see Boogie, if you hadn't run away I'm sure that the worst Lord Beast Master would have done was to make you clean her bottomless pits for a week. However, she won't be needing to do that now, since you're about to go through something far worse."

Boogie scratched his head. "I'm afraid I don't understand Master Xellos."

Xellos leaned in close to his face. "What I mean my dear little servant is that you're about to receive a harsh lesson in the term...oh what do the humans call it? Mother bear instinct."

Boogie raised a stumped eyebrow, then what the Mazoku was implying dawned on him. There was a crucial reason why bogles try hard not to be found by children's parents. It was because when most parents find something threatening or scaring their children, their parental instincts would take over and beat the living daylights out of the bogle.

Then, Boogie heard the sounds of cracking knuckles. Gulping, he turned, the dread growing in his stomach. All four adults glared at Boogie with fire burning in their eyes. Gourry kept punching his hand into his fist. "Hey Xellos, mind taking the kids out for a sec?"

"I agree," Zelgadis replied in a murderous tone. "Things are about to get violent in here."

"Yeah, and the last thing we need is to pay for the kids' therapy," said Lina, as she prepared a fireball.

"Now! Now! Wait a minute!" Boogie stammered, looking for a rational face in the group. He looked to Amelia. "Princess! You're a champion of justice! Isn't it unjust to gang up on a small creature like me?"

Amelia took a deep breath. "I am a champion of justice." Boogie relaxed. "However...right now I'm a very annoyed, tired and angry mother. Besides, it's more unjust to scare small children!" Amelia began to cast a flare arrow. "In other words, say your prayers."

Boogie paled and whimpered.

"Come children," Xellos said cheerfully, escorting the children from the room. "I believe your parents want to be alone for their fun."

That night, Zack, Lori and Rowen barely got any sleep due to the loud sounds of battle cries, screams and explosions coming from the bedroom. The next morning, a sore, burnt and bandaged Boogie happily went with Xellos back to Lord Beast Master. Boogie decided that instead of scaring children, his new 'hobby' would be scaring dragons. It was far less dangerous.


	7. Bedtime Trouble

**Bedtime Trouble**

"Daddy, where is Mommy?" Zack asked as he hugged his bunny tightly to his chest, sitting spread out on his bed.

His father draped the fluffy blue blanket over his small body. "Mommy had to go to a meeting with your Aunt," Zelgadis replied, tucking his son in. "So, I'm taking over your bedtime tonight."

Zack paled. "Aunt Gracie isn't coming to tell me a bedtime story like last time, is she?"

"It's pronounced Gracia and what's wrong if she is? I thought you liked spending time with her."

"I do, but her laugh hurts my ears."

Zelgadis couldn't argue with that logic. He kept an emergency pair of earplugs in his pocket for the very same reason. "Don't worry, I'll be the one telling your bedtime story tonight."

"Oh, okay, you haven't read to me in a million years.

"That would be rather difficult to do since you're only 6," Zelgadis commented as he went to Zack's small bookshelf. He picked out a storybook he recalled as being a favorite of Zack and Amelia, then pulled up the chair near the bed and cleared his throat.

"Once upon a time there was a princess. She was loved by all of the forest animals who would greet her every morning saying 'Good morning princess'."

"That's not how Mommy does it."

Zelgadis glanced up. "What? How else is there to do it?"

Zack frowned sternly. "Mommy does voices."

"Voices?"

"Yeah. For the bunnies she talks in a high voice. For the birds she says 'tweet' at the end and for the horses she makes a whinney sound-"

"Alright, alright, I get it," Zelgadis sighed. The things a parent had to do to please their children. He took a quick glance around to be sure no one could black mail him for what he was about to do. He cleared his throat and repeated in a high voice "Good morning princess!"

"That's better," Zack nodding approvingly.

Zelgadis sighed and continued. "One morning, a troll saw the princess and decided to make her his bride. As the princess was greeting her forest friends, the troll snatched her away and-"

"You're not laughing."

Zelgadis glanced up. "Laughing?"

"Mommy always makes an evil laugh for the troll."

"Zack, I am not doing an evil laugh."

The boy glared. Zelgadis shook his head an did a very un-energetic "Mwhahaha."

"Could be better, but it will do," Zack replied.

Zelgadis wondered briefly if he and Amelia were raising a prince or a critic, but continued.

"Word spread of the princess's capture and when a prince heard he vowed to rescued her. So he-"

"Do the speech!" Zack yelled, excitedly.

Zelgadis felt a twitch and a headache coming on. "Speech?" he asked, twitching an eye.

"For this part, Mommy always stands up on the chair." To demonstrate, Zack climbed to his feet and stood on his bed. "Then she throws a fist in the air yelling 'By the hammer of justice I will kick the troll" or something. I don't remember what she says. It gets long after a while."

At this point Zelgadis slammed the book shut, making a mental note to talk with Amelia about toning down her justice speeches. "Alright, we're going to read a different book."

The chimera scanned the bookshelf and picked one that still appeared to be brand new. "Has your mother ever read you this one?"

Zack shook his head. "Nope."

Zelgadis relaxed. Perhaps he could get away with not having to create voices or do justice speeches.

"Grandpa's read it to me a million times."

The book was tossed over Zelgadis's shoulder. He didn't even what to know how Phil was reading to his son. Although, now he was in a pickle. Zack would refuse to go to sleep without a story, but it seemed Amelia and Phil had read every book Zack had. What he needed was a new story, which wasn't possible, unless he created one himself.

"Zack, how about I tell you a story with no book tonight."

The boy frowned and hugged his bunny. "But there won't be any pictures."

"USE your imagination."

Zack froze. He knew that tone. It usually meant that his dad hadn't gotten his cup of coffee or Aunt Lina was playing another joke on him. Either way, Zack knew his father wasn't in a good mood, so he nodded quickly.

Zelgadis sighed and sat down, trying to think of what kind of plot. _"Well, they say writers tell the best stories from their own experiences."_

With this thought, Zelgadis cleared his throat again. "Once upon a time, there was a handsome and brave sorcerer. Although he was a genius in sorcery, he craved to be a strong swordsman. One day, a dark mage came and made the offer to make him stronger. The sorcerer accepted at once, but this proved to be a grave error."

Zelgadis fists tightened at the memory.

"The mage turned the young sorcerer into a monster."

"Why didn't he ask?" Zack asked.

Zelgadis stared dumbly at his son. "What do you mean?"

"There's no such thing as a free lunch and you should never agree to anything you don't know the full details of."

"Who taught you that?"

"Aunt Lina. Also, why did he listen to a stranger? Uncle Gourry and Mommy told me to never talk to strangers."

"Well, in some cases it's okay…"

"But Daddy, if I did that you would yell at me."

Zelgadis could feel that headache coming back. "Look the sorcerer was young and naive."

"So, he was stupid?"

Zelgadis twitched. "Yes, he was stupid. Now then, the mage turned the sorcerer into a monster."

"What kind? Did he have horns?"

"No, he did not have horns."

"What about wings?"

"No wings."

"Extra arms?"

"No!" Zelgadis paused to think of something that wouldn't give the sorcerer's idenity away. "He turned his skin purple with dark spots."

Zack wrinkled his nose. "That doesn't sound like a monster Daddy. The mage just made him look different."

Zelgadis groaned. "Fine, he wasn't a monster he just looked different. May I continue?"

Sensing the fierce tone again, Zack eased back and nodded.

"As I was saying, the mage turned the sorcerer into…a different person. The sorcerer then set out to find a cure and turn himself back to normal. So, the sorcerer began a quest to find a way to release the curse."

"He had to kiss a princess to break the spell right?" Zack grinned at being able to predict a detail of the story. "They always have to kiss a princess."

"No," said Zelgadis. "In fact, the sorcerer had no clue on how to break the spell." He then gave a small smile. "He did meet a princess however. They met while she was with her companions and battling evil sorcerers that were troubling the country."

"She sounds like Mommy," Zack replied giving his bunny a tight hug.

"Indeed," Zelgadis said with a slight chuckle. "The princess and the sorcerer became good friends and slowly became more than that and quite content." Zelgadis sighed. "Sadly, the sorcerer had to continue his search so he left her behind-"

"Wait, why didn't he go with her?"

"She had her own duties to run the country."

"But if they were friends, she probably would have left them. Mommy would have and why did he leave? If the sorcerer was happy enough, why did he have to break the spell? He did just look different."

"Zack, he wanted to be human again."

The boy frowned. "Did he write?"

"Well, once in awhile-"

"HE DIDN'T WRITE?!"

"I didn't say that. It was difficult sometimes for him to write, but he did try to every couple of months."

Zack gapped. "Months? She must have been worried if she didn't hear from him for that long."

Zelgadis was silent. "You think so?"

Zack nodded. "Mommy gets worried when she doesn't get a letter from Aunt Gracie for a long time. So, isn't it the same thing?"

The chimera stared at his feet. It was odd. For once, he felt Zack was the parent scolding him for his naughty behaviour."

"Daddy, this sorcerer sounds like a jerk."

That comment caused Zelgadis to wince, but he couldn't deny it. He knew Amelia had wanted to hear from him during those quests he undertook to look for his cure. How could it never occur to him that she was worried? Actually, Lina had frequently told him it would have been good to write more often to the princess during their traveling days. Only now, after being pointed out by a child did he understand how inconsiderate he had been.

"You're right," Zelgadis simply replied.

Zack blinked. He was hardly ever right. "I am?"

"Yes, the sorcerer was a jerk, but he does learn from his mistakes." Zelgadis leaned on his knees. "In fact, the sorcerer realizes how much he loves the princess and goes back to her even if the spell is still intact."

"Did they live happily ever after?"

"I can assure you they did," Zelgadsi said with a wistful glimmer in his eyes.

Zack laid his head down on his pillow. "Oh good, that wasn't a bad story Daddy, but can it have an ogre or an elf next time?"

"What, no dragons?"

Zack shook his head. "I hear enough dragon stories from Uncle Gourry and they all end with Aunt Lina scaring them away."

Zelgadis held back a chuckle. No doubt Gourry only told those stories when Lina was out of earshot. The fact that the swordsman was still breathing was proof. Zelgadis then wished his son a good night with a pat on the boy's head.

As he walked down the hall, the chimera began to debate whether to buy Amelia new earrings or a pearl necklace. He was going to be doing a lot of apologizing to his wife tomorrow.


	8. Here Comes Santa?

Amelia rubbed her shoulders as she exited the council room. "Well, I'm glad we got all that settled."

Wizer rolled up the parchment. "It took a while, but I believe Ruvinagardo will be satisfied with the adjustments we made to the trade agreement."

"Just as long as it doesn't involve trying to arrest Lina again," Zelgadis commented, taking his wife's arm and leading her down the corridor. "Seyrune couldn't afford the property damage if you tried that again."

Wizer laughed. "I can only arrest Lina if she breaks a law in Ruvinagardo, what she does outside of the country is out of my jurisdiction."

"So you say," Zelgadis scoffed.

"Are you going to head back to Ruvinagardo now, Mister Wizer?"

Wizer folded his arms. "Actually, the king allowed me to have a few days off so I could experience Seyrune's Winter Festival."

"You're welcome to stay at the palace then," Amelia commented. "Seyrune has some wonderful traditions."

"So I've heard." Wizer then caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned, with an opened eye and a concern frown. "On that note Princess, mind if I ask a question?"

Amelia stared puzzled. "No, what is it?"

He pointed to the stairs around the corner. "Is that a normal Seyrune tradition?"

Zelgadis went around the corner. The sight before him made his blood level rise and Amelia groan. Zack and Rowan were on top of a large silver tray. Each boy was equipped with a pot on the top of his head and they appeared ready to toboggan down the stairs at any given moment.

"Okay, Rowan," Zack cried with great enthusiasm. "On the count of three."

Rowan nodded. "Let's do this. 1, 2-"

"Zackary! Rowan!"

The boys spun around, feeling like a pair of mice caught in the mouse trap as Zelgadis marched up.

"Uh oh," Zack muttered.

"I thought you said they would be in that meeting all morning," Rowan hissed.

"They were," Zack hissed back. "It's noon now."

"What are you boys trying to do?!"

Jumping to their feet, Zack and Rowan stood at attention like soldiers.

"We weren't doing much Daddy," Zack replied quickly, twiddling his fingers.

Zelgadis narrowed his eyes. "It looked like to me like you two were about to ride that tray down the stairs." His fingers tapped his arm as Amelia and Wizer caught up. "How many times have I told you boys you aren't allowed to do this?"

"Don't know," Rowan admitted. "We tuned it out after the first twenty times."

Zack jabbed him with his elbow. "Not helping."

Amelia groaned. "What are we going to do with you boys?"

Wizer stroked his chin. "It's none of my business, but if you boys don't start behaving, Santa might not come."

The boys perked up with interest. "Who's Santa?" Amelia asked.

"Oh, I beg your pardon Princess. I forgot only children in Ruvinagardo believe in Santa." He tucked his hands into his pocket. "It's an old folk tale. Santa is supposed to be an old jolly man who delivers presents to children on the night of a full moon during the Winter Festival."

"He brings presents?" Zack asked excitedly.

Rowan folded his arms. "I bet there's a catch though."

"Correct!" Wizer exclaimed as he knelt down to the boys' level. "He only brings presents to children who have been behaving, otherwise he puts coal in their stockings."

"I've heard of this story," Zelgadis replied. _And it's still one of the stupidest things I have ever heard. It's clearly just a ploy trying to get children to behave._

"So," Zack began "You're saying if we're good, Santa will bring us presents?"

Zelgadis heard the alarm bells go off in his head. "Now wait son, Mister Wizer is just telling you a story." He emphasized the last part. "So it's not true."

"I wouldn't say that," Wizer interrupted. "It's a story as old as the country itself and they say all stories have some truth in them."

Zelgadis glared. Why couldn't the man take a hint? "No, Wizer, in this case-"

"So, he'll come then?" Rowan asked.

"Certainly!" Wizer exclaimed.

"Mister Wizer, why don't I show you the Royal Courtyard?" Amelia cut in, feeling it was probably too late to intervene.

"And tonight's a full moon!" Zack cried. "I wonder what Santa will bring me?!"

"Zack!" Zelgadis cleared his throat. "Santa is not going to come tonight."

The boy glanced up shocked. "He won't?"

"No," Zelgadis replied firmly. _Good, perhaps this will get resolved without any trouble._ Unfortunately, Zelgadis then saw the tears forming in his son's eyes.

"Is it because I'm bad?"

Panic struck! "No! No! It's just, it's just-" He glanced to Amelia for help.

The princess appeared just as helpless. "You're not bad Zack! You and Rowan are good children...mostly…"

Zack wiped his tears. "So, Santa's going to come then?"

Zelgadis and Amelia looked to each other. Neither could think of a way out of this situation. Zelgadis sighed and reluctantly said "Yes, Santa is going to come."

He shot a glare to Wizer, who was laughing as both boys ran to tell the good news to Lori.

808080808080

Lina drummed her fingers on the table. "Let me get this straight. Wizer told the kids that a fat guy in red suit was going to bring them presents?"

Zelgadis sighed, feeling equally exasperated. "That would be correct."

Lina slammed her fist on her kitchen table. "I'm going to kill that idiot!"

Gourry stared at the ceiling with his hands tucked behind his head. "What's the big deal? We'll just explain it to the kids that it's just a story."

"Rowan seems to believe it's not true," Amelia explained. "But Zack and Lori don't." Amelia folded her arms. "Each time we tried telling them it's not true, they got upset because they thought it meant they were bad children."

"Which is why I'm going to kill Wizer," Lina growled. What was the man thinking? Telling the kids such a silly story? An old man who brings presents? What kind of moron would think up such a crazy folk tale? She sighed. "I guess we have no choice. If 'Santa' doesn't come, the kids will get upset."

"So, what should we do then?" Gourry asked.

She titled her head slyly at him. "You still have the big red sweater?"

"Sure but-" Gourry paused. "Wait, you're not suggesting that I play as Santa?"

"That's the plan!" Lina exclaimed, clapping her hands.

"Why do I have to do it?! Why can't Zel do it, or even Prince Phil? This would be right up his alley wouldn't it?"

"My blue skin would be a big hint that I wasn't Santa," Zelgadis explained. "As for Phil, he went out of the city for a couple of days to check on the nearby villages. He wanted to find out if they needed any help to survive the winter."

"And since this is a guy's role, then Amelia and I can't do it," she grinned. "So, that leaves only leaves you Mister Santa."

Gourry groaned. This was not going to work, he just knew it.

Later, they went to the palace and gathered the kids in the old library. Rowan twirled the giant globe. "Is Santa supposed to come tonight?"

"Mom and Dad said he would," Zack replied as he finished his game of checkers with Lori.

"I hope I get a doll," Lori replied excitedly.

Rowan rolled his eyes. This was a hoax. It amazed him that Lori and Zack were believing it so easily. "I would rather be at home working on my invention."

"No, it's better if you're here," Zack replied. "If you blow up your house, then Santa won't come."

Rowan twitched. "Guys, look, I hate to break it to you, but there is no-"

"Ho ho!" The doors to the library flew open.

The kids blinked in surprised as a man with a shaggy beard entered.

"Santa?" Lori asked.

"That's me!" the man exclaimed, giving a thumbs up. "I came because you were all good kids."

Lori and Zack stared in complete awe. Rowan studied the man. He'd seen that sweater before, and the beard looked like it was falling off. He snapped his fingers. "That's not Santa, that's just Dad in a fake beard"

Santa sweated. "What are you talking about? I'm Santa."

"Dad that is you, and you're wearing that itchy sweater you hate. I'll bet anything that beard comes right off"

Lori blinked and took a closer look. "It is Dad," Lori said, disappointed.

Gourry sweated even more. "No, really I'm Santa."

A sigh came from behind him. "Give it up Gourry, they're not buying it," bellowed Zelgadis's voice as he and Lina and Amelia entered.

Gourry twitched and glared at his son. "Rowan, later we're going to have a little chat."

"Uncle Gourry, why did you do this?" Zack asked. "Is Santa not coming?"

Gourry scratched his head. Unable to see any other options, he kneeled to the kid's level. "I'm sorry kids, but Santa isn't-"

"Ho, ho, ho!" bellowed a new voice.

All of them spun around. A man in a fur red suit and a long bushy white beard entered. He carried a large sack over his shoulder. "Sorry I'm late, it's been a busy night."

Amelia blinked, confused. What on earth was going on? The whole thing was just a story wasn't it? "Mister Santa?"

"The one and the same!" the man exclaimed as he put down his sack.

"Is it really you this time Santa?" Zack asked, unsure if he should get his hopes up.

"Of course," he reached into his sack. "I believe you wanted a griffin figurine didn't you young man?"

Zack's eye lit up as the toy was placed into his hands. "Thanks Santa."

"And let's see," the man's eyes landed on Lori. "The young lady wanted a doll? And the skeptical young man over there wanted new tools?"

Lori beamed. Rowan was going to protest, but seeing his little sister's face, decided to drop it. Besides, the guy was bringing him new tools and he knew better than to give up a free gift.

Lina beckoned the other adults into a huddle. "All right, please tell me somebody hired him? Because that's the only way to explain this!"

Zelgadis smirked. "Lina, don't tell me you haven't noticed?"

Lina blinked and Zelgadis pointed to Santa. They had a clear view of his back side as he gave Lori her doll. They also had a clear view of the brown ponytail that peeked from beneath his hat.

Lina gaped. "Well, I'll be damned."

Santa finished giving his last present to Rowan. "Well now, I wish I could stay and chat, but I have many other deliveries to make tonight!"

"Are you going to come back?" Lori asked.

Santa laughed. "As long as you remember to behave yourselves."

"Sounds good Santa," Lina said with a wink. "We'll see you out."

The adults led Santa out of the room and waited until they were out of the children's view.

Lina smirked and patted him on the back. "Good job Santa, or should I say Inspector Santa?"

Wizer laughed as he took off his hat and beard. "Figured it out did you?"

"I will admit, you even had us believing for a second," Zegadis commented. "You planned this from the start didn't you?"

Wizer grasped his chin. "It's certainly not impossible."

"My question is why?" Gourry asked as he took off his hat.

Wizer winked. "Insurance."

Amelia blinked. "Insurance? What do you mean?"

Wizer folded his arms. "I figured that if I got your children into the habit of behaving regularly, then it will reduce the chances of them becoming as destructive as Miss Lina."

Lina twitched, cracking her knuckles. "Is that so? Maybe I should show you just how naughty I can be."

Gourry shook his head. "I don't buy it." Wizer blinked and the swordsman continued. "I think you're just a softie when it comes to kids and you couldn't resist."

Wizer laughed, ignoring the statement. "Well, I believe it's time for me to head to bed. I'm returning to Ruvinagardo early in the morning."

Wizer hummed to himself as he left.

Lina sighed. "So, I guess this means Wizer will make this a routine every year until the kids stop believing it."

"But it's not like it's a bad thing," Amelia commented. "I think it's sweet." Wizer didn't always let on, but he was a nice man.

Lina was going say more, but she felt a tug on her shirt and looked down to Rowan. "What's up kiddo?"

"Mister Santa," Rowan replied mockingly, "told me to give something to you."

Lina raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" She held out her hand and stared confused as her son placed a piece of coal into her hands. She stared at the small piece of rock. "Why on earth did he give me this?"

Rowan tucked his hands into his pockets. "He said that's what Santa gives to people when they're naughty, so it's important to be good."

The piece of coal cracked in her hand as she started making plans to roast Santa in the morning.


	9. Uncle's Advice

Gourry sensed Zack was upset. Normally, when he came to the store, Zack would be bouncing up and down, anxious to see what new items there were in stock, or he would run off with Rowan and Lori to their rooms.

This time was very different. Zack barely said a word as Amelia dropped him off for Gourry to baby-sit for the afternoon. Instead of tugging on his shirt as he often did, Zack curled up in the corner sulking. He asked Amelia what was wrong, but she was just as clueless as Gourry. All she could tell him was that Zack had been rather moody since that morning.

This left him pondering what his options were. Whatever was bothering the boy, Gourry couldn't count on Rowan and Lori to cheer him up. They had gone to help Lina get supplies downtown and they wouldn't be back until long after Zack went home.

So, it was up to him. Gourry finished shelving the latest stack of spell books and ventured to where the small boy sat. Zack barely moved as the swordsman took a seat and joined him.

"Mind telling your favorite uncle what's troubling you?"

Zack buried his head into his folded arms. "You're my only uncle, Uncle Gourry." His fingers toyed with the edge of his shirt. "And there's nothing bothering me."

Gourry leaned back. "If that were the case you wouldn't be hiding in the corner like a mouse." He patted the boy on the head. "Come on, tell old Gourry what the problem is."

Zack's head shot up with a fierce glare. "He said I looked like an elf!"

Gourry blinked. He wasn't expecting to find out that quickly. "Wait, who did?"

"One of the councilors, I don't know his name." Zack gave a slight growl. "He was talking to Grandpa, saw me and laughed saying 'He really does look like an elf'." The boy jumped up. "I do not look like an elf!"

Gourry stroked his chin. He could understand how he was feeling, but the fact was Zack did look like an elf. Even Gourry had made the exact same comment when Zack was born. With his fair skin he got from his mother's side and the pointed ears which were no doubt Zelgadis's contribution, it was easy for people to mistake him for an elf.

There was no question this was going to haunt Zack for the rest of his life. Gourry folded his arms. "Zack, I hate to tell you this, but you have to realize you do look like an elf so a lot of stupid people are going to say that."

Zack scowled and was ready to argue, but Gourry shushed him quickly. "Let me finish. Given that this is the case, my advice to you is to just ignore it."

Zack rolled his eyes.

"I know, easier said than done, but you're just going to wear yourself out if you let it keep bothering you like this. Besides, there are worse things people could call you. Trust me."

The boy kept his scowl. Gourry leaned forward. "Look, I do know how you feel. Believe me. When I was a kid, I was called 'squirt' all the time."

The swordsman grinned in triumph as Zack's expression of anger turned to shock. "YOU?! But Uncle Gourry, you're huge!"

"Sure, now, but I was a runt when I was a kid. It runs in the family."

Zack raised an eyebrow. "Does that mean Rowan is going to be big too?"

"Let's not change the subject. My point is, it drove me crazy when people called me 'squirt' or 'runt', but you know what I realized?"

Zack titled his head. "What?"

"It's easier to let that stuff go. What people say are not going to change who I am. All that's important is what I think of myself."

"Even when Aunt Lina calls you a jelly-fish brain?"

Gourry laughed. "Well, that's more of a nickname, but let's talk about that some other time." He climbed to his feet. "So feel better?"

Zack dug his toe into the floor. "Maybe, a little."

Gourry patted the boy's head. "Tell you what, if anybody gives you a hard time with it, just tell me or your dad, we'll be glad to teach that person a lesson."

Zack giggled. "What about Mom or Aunt Lina?"

"No, because we don't want to risk Lina blowing up Seyrune." Gourry sweated at the image. "I doubt your mom would go to that extreme, but women can be fierce when it involves their kids."

Gourry turned his back to Zack and knelt down. "Come on, I'll give you a piggy back ride to the store room. We got in some new dragon figurines."

Zack grinned with delight as his small arms clamped around Gourry's neck. The swordsman grinned to himself, satisfied that things were back to normal.


	10. On a Tight Leash

"Um…Zel?"

The chimera glanced up from his book, ignoring the puzzled expression on Lina's face. "Shouldn't you be at the shop? It's rather busy after lunch isn't?"

The sorceress continued to stare downward. "It's been a quiet day so Gourry said he would mind the shop and the kids are taking a nap. I figured it was a good time to come to the library and do some research I've been meaning to get around to."

"Oh, I see," Zelgadis replied as he turned the page.

There was a brief silence and then Lina cleared her throat. "Um…Zel?"

"What?"

Lina titlted her head. "Mind telling me why your son is on a leash?"

"It's not a leash, it's a harness." Zelgadis felt a sudden tug from the rope tied to his belt. He stared at the toddler as Zack gave another hard tug. "Out! Out!" the boy exclaimed.

"Zack, behave." Zelgadis turned back to Lina who now had her arms folded, waiting for an explanation.

"It's the only way I can bring him with me without worrying about him getting into trouble."

"What are you talking about? You've brought him here plenty of times."

Zelgadis sighed. It had become regular routine for him to have Zack tag along with him to the library. Before Zack was born, at least a couple times a week, Amelia would help her father with the paperwork. Since there wasn't much he could do to help, Zelgadis often went to the library for research. Then Zack came along. Zelgadis had assumed he and Amelia would get a nanny for Zack for during those times. It was at that point that Amelia reveals that she never planned on hiring a nanny.

"My mother didn't like the idea of passing us off to a nanny when she was capable of doing it herself" she had said. This left Zelgadis with few options. Amelia wouldn't be able to get her work done if Zack was with her. They occasionally got a baby-sitter for Zack, and it was often a toss-up between Lina and Gourry or Sylphiel.

However, neither Zelgadis or Amelia thought it would be fair to ask them to

baby-sit every week and he wasn't comfortable with the idea of asking a servant to look after his son.

This left Zelgadis to do it, so he began to take Zack to the library. It wasn't hard at first. Zack slept most of the time and as long as he was quiet the librarian was fine with it. She even had a little play area set up for Zack where Zelgadis could keep his eye on him.

It was a perfect solution. Unfortunately, Zack learned how to walk.

"Zel?" Lina asked again.

The chimera broke out of his thoughts and resumed his explanation. "Since Zack started walking he's wanted to explore everywhere."

Lina looked to Zack. The boy was now pulling at the small vest the rope was tied to. It reminded her of when puppies would bite their leashes in frustration.

"So, just keep him in the play area."

Zelgadis twitched. "He's figured out how to open it and get out."

"Oh."

"And no matter how many times I fix the darn thing, he keeps finding ways to free himself."

As Zack gave another tug, Zelgadis scooped him up and placed him in his lap. "With that said, Zack has discovered he can pull books off shelves and almost get himself flattened if 'Daddy' hadn't been there to save him."

"Oh I see-"

"He's also discovered to his delight that he can spin the globes to the point of knocking them over and breaking on the floor."

"Okay sure but-"

"Oh, but the most fun he has is tearing pages out of books."

"Zel, okay I get the point-"

"Including ruining a 2,000 year old text." As he said this, he closely watched Zack touch the pages of the book.

"I was lucky that it was just an old recipe book, but I swear, if we weren't members of the royal family, I'm positive the librarian would have banned us until Zack turn 40."

Lina raised an eyebrow. "And thus you put him on a leash."

"Harness," Zelgadis corrected.

"Did you tell Amelia about this?"

"Yes and the best solution we could come up with was this." Zack began to wiggle in his lap and Zelgadis placed him back on the floor. "It was either a harness or try strapping him to my back and frankly I thought this wasn't quite as embarrassing."

Lina frowned. "I see your point, but had you considered of just not coming to the library?"

"I wouldn't be able to get any work done." Zack began once again began to tug at his harness. "Out, out!"

With a sigh, Zelgadis reached into his pocket and brought out a small ring of keys. The toddler's eyes widened as soon as Zelgadis dangled them in front of his eyes. With glee, Zack took the keys and happily shook them.

"My best plan at the moment is to keep him close and distract him so he doesn't want to wander off."

"And the librarian is alright with Zack making noise like that?" Lina asked as she watched the boy.

"After he almost ruining a 2,000 year old book, I don't think she cares what he does as long as he doesn't wreck anything else."

Lina nodded and perched on the edge of the table. "If you want Zel, you can borrow Rowan's blocks. They're easy to carry and they keep Rowan and Lori busy for hours."

Zelgadis pondered. "Actually, that would be a big help. Thank you."

"Although," Lina drummed her fingers on the table. "You do realize you can't keep him on a leash forever."

"Harness," Zelgadis corrected. "And this is temporary. It's only until Zack is able to be in a library without destroying it."

**9 Years Later…**

"Dad, I'm going to check out the atlases at the other end of the library."

Zelgadis glanced up from his notes. "That's fine son, just make sure you don't cause any trouble."

Zack rolled his eyes and tucked his hands behind his head. "Dad, why do you always say that? I never cause trouble in here."

Zelgadis smirked. "Oh really? Wasn't it only last week you tried climbing the bookshelves again?"

Zack blushed. "I was just putting a book back," he muttered. "And I only went up two shelves."

The chimera sighed. "Maybe you need to go back on a leash. I mean harness."

Zack stared baffled. "Huh?"

"Oh, nothing."


	11. New Family Member

The instant Zelgadis came home, he was worried. Amelia was always happy to see him, but this time she was a little too happy. He had left earlier that morning to have his usual sparring session with Gourry, and had only been gone a few hours. Normally, Amelia would just raise her head and smile. Yet, this time as soon as he entered their room, Amelia cried "Welcome home, Zelgadis," as if he been gone for a couple of days. "How did your sparring session go?"

For the moment, he decided to give Amelia the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps she had a bad morning and was relieved to see him for moral support. It was possible she could have gotten into an argument with Naga while she was home for a visit. There was no real reason to be apprehensive.

The chimera set his sword against the wall. "It was fine, although Lori seems quite fascinated by swordplay." He unclipped his cloak. "She watched Gourry and I the whole time-"

"That's great!" Amelia seized his arm and pulled him to the table. "I made some tea for us."

His inner troubling radar began beeping again. "Tea?"

"Yes, dear. It's your favorite blend-"

Zelgadis stood his ground, folded his arms and stared at Amelia intently. "All right, what did she do?"

Amelia blinked, sweating a little. "Who did?"

"Naga," Zelgadis replied as he took a seat. "You were too obvious Amelia. I come home to my favorite blend of tea all prepared and you called me 'dear' which indicates something happened that I won't like." He poured himself a cup. "And since she's home, I'm assuming it has to do with her."

Amelia sighed in defeat and sat next to him. "I don't want you to over react, just listen." She frowned. "On that note, Zelgadis, I thought we decided to call her Gracia."

Zelgadis poured milk into it. "You and Zack can call her that, but I agree with Lina. Naga suits her better." He rested his palm on his hand. "And don't try to change the subject. What did she do?"

Amelia twiddled her thumbs. "Um…well-"

Suddenly, they heard a loud noise. It was a loud repeated 'thump'. Before the couple could react, a red ball gave a final bounce into the room and then slowed to a quiet roll. As if it was ordered, the ball rolled and stopped when it knocked against Zelgadis' foot with a gentle bump. Amelia tugged at her collar, as the

chimera groaned and picked up the ball.

He was about to say "I thought I told that boy not to leave his toys around" when another sound came.

"Woof!"

"No! Come back!" Zelgadis recognized the yell as coming from Zack.

There was a louder noise of a set of fast paced feet came running. A white blur dashed into the room bumping and knocking against the door frame. The thing ran towards him. Zelgadis braced himself and grabbed onto the table. The white blur collided into his chair.

Thankfully, he kept his balance. He noted Amelia was sweating quite heavily. He glanced downward and found to his shock a large white puppy gleefully wagging its tail. Zelgadis blinked. This thing wasn't a normal dog. Its' paws were huge and its' ears were long and pointed. The biggest indicator was the small patter of scales along its front and back legs.

He stared dumbfounded at the animal, until Zack came into the room. "There you are girl!"

Amelia moaned. "Zack, I thought I told you to keep her in your room."

"But I did Mommy, except then the ball got out of my hands and just then the maid opened the door and-"

"Never mind sweetie," Amelia replied. "I get the picture."

Zelgadis wanted to speak, but then the puppy whined and pawed at his pant leg.

"Daddy, I think she wants her ball," said Zack.

Without a word, Zelgadis tossed the ball to the far corner of the room. The puppy rushed after it, pounced on the ball and chewed it contently. With the ball business out of the way, Zelgadis looked to his son. "Zack, where did you get the puppy?"

Zack ran over to his puppy. "Isn't she cute, Daddy? Aunt Gracie gave her to me as a late birthday present."

"Oh, did she?" Zelgadis replied as he looked back to his wife who had her head buried in her hands.

8080808080808080808080808

Exactly 20 minutes later, Zelgadis brought Naga into the parlor. She sat on the opposite side of the room, while he and Amelia took a seat on the couch on the other side. Zack was gone as Amelia had suggested the puppy was hungry and could use a snack in the kitchen. She figured it was best if Zack wasn't present for this conversation. Zelgadis was annoyed, very annoyed.

Naga laughed. "Isn't she a splendid creature? I did a job for this breeder and he offered me one of his puppies as payment."

Zelgaids drummed his fingers on his elbow. "And you decide to give the puppy to Zack."

Naga huffed. "I don't see what you're so upset about. There's nothing wrong with an aunt wanting to spoil her nephew once in awhile."

Zelgadis twitched. "I'm annoyed because you gave him a pet without checking with us first."

Naga shrugged. "If I had you would have said 'No' so I don't see the point."

"Now, now," Amelia quickly chimed in. "She is a sweet puppy, dear, and Zack has wanted a pet for a long time."

Zelgadis narrowed his eyes. "That's not the only problem. There's also the fact that it's not a normal puppy." He turned back to his sister-in-law. "That puppy is a chimera isn't?"

Naga laughed. "Oh, so you noticed did you?"

Zelgadis rolled his eyes. "I'm a bit of an expert in that department."

Amelia gapped. "A chimera? Gracia you didn't tell me that."

Naga smirked. "She's not as obvious as other chimeras is she?" She eased back in her seat. "That breeder I worked for was actually a chimera maker. He was trying to design the ultimate breed of dog. A dog will be able to protect its' owner from any enemy, and having the longest life of any dog. That little puppy can live for 50 years if you can believe it."

Naga poured herself a cup of tea. "I figured with our family's luck, a dog like that would be the perfect bodyguard for Zack and the rest of our family."

Zelgadis still wasn't convinced. "What exactly is the puppy made of?"

"One third dog of course." She sipped her drink. "This tea needs lemon."

"Um…the other parts?" Amelia asked, feeling slightly worried.

"One third bear-"

"Bear?!"

"Oh don't worry Amelia, that's just for the extra strength."

"The last part," Zelgadis asked, not sure if his nerves could take it.

"Dragon. That's why she can live so long."

Zelgadis slammed his palm against his forehead. "You gave our son a chimera that's part dragon? What if she breathes fire?"

"Oh don't be such a worry wart. She won't breathe fire." Naga paused. "At least the breeder was 90 percent sure she wouldn't."

Amelia recovered from the shock. "Did you give a puppy to Miss Lina and Mister Gourry's kids too?"

Naga shook her head. "No, although I wanted to, but the breeder only had one left. Since Zack is an only child, I thought he would appreciate her more."

"So, what did you give them then?"

Naga smirked. "A drum set. It should go very well with the bagpipes I got for them last time."

Zelgadis glared. "You haven't forgiven her yet for the time you were 'Nama', have you?"

"Oh, heavens that's not the case at all." She coughed. "Although, I will admit the thought of reminding Lina of how to properly treat innocent living armour has entered my mind once in a blue moon."

Zelgadis sighed. "Naga we appreciate the thought but-"

"But what? Take back the puppy when Zack has clearly become attached to her?" Naga shook her head. "Be serious, you know I don't have the heart to separate a loving boy and his dog and neither does Amelia." She raised her eyebrow at him. "And you don't like to admit it, but you're a real softie when it comes to your son and my sister. So, it's impossible to think you'd do it."

Zelgadis wanted to argue back, but then Zack entered with the white puppy in toe. "Hey Mommy, guess what? I think the cooks really like her. They kept giving her leftover scraps."

"That's wonderful sweetie," Amelia replied looking to Zelgadis.

Zack then tugged on his dad sleeve. "So, Daddy, can I keep her? Please! Please!"

Zelgadis looked to this son, then to the puppy who tilted its head wagging its tail. There was no escape from this. Naga was right, he was a softie to his family. Damn! He hated it when she was right. "You're the one that has to take care of her."

Zack hugged him. "Thank you! Thank you! Mommy said we couldn't keep her until you said it was okay." The boy then sat on the floor and let the puppy climb on him to lick his face. He giggled as the tongue tickled. "I can't wait to show you to Rowan and Lori."

Naga grinned in triumph. "So, what are you going to name her?"

Zack frowned. "I don't know, I haven't decided yet."

"How about naming it 'Naga' after your favorite aunt."

Zack shook his head. "Sorry Auntie, but Naga isn't a doggy name."

"That's true, it doesn't quite fit a dog," agreed Amelia.

An idea struck Zelgadis. He was going to have a little revenge. "How about 'Nama' then Zack?"

Naga choked. "Now, I don't think Zack wants to name it-"

"No, I like that name." The puppy gave a loud bark. "And she likes it too."

"It's settled then," Zelgadis smirked at a disgruntled Naga. "We'll call the puppy 'Nama'. I'm sure Lina will like the name a lot too."

The puppy gave another bark as Naga groaned. That name was going to haunt her for the rest of her life.


	12. Checkmate

"Daddy, will you play with me?"

Zelgadis glanced up from his paper work. His son was staring at him with big hopeful eyes.

He sighed. "Zack, I'm busy with work right now. Why don't you play with Nama?"

He pointed to the oversized puppy, curled up in a sunny spot beneath the window.

"I've played with her all morning, so now she just wants to sleep." Zack folded his arms. "I asked Mommy to play, and she said I should ask you."

Zelgadis sighed. "What game did you want to play?"

The boy smiled. "Chess."

The answer surprised Zelgadis. "Chess? Since when have you wanted to play that?"

"I saw Rowen play it with Aunt Lina. So, can we play, Daddy?"

Zelgadis bit his lip. He was proud that his son took interest in such an intellectual game, but it wasn't a game to take on lightly. "Zack, you do know that I won't go easy on you? I'm not going to let you win."

The boy rolled his eyes, as if he had heard this before. "I know, I know. I've played this game before and I haven't won yet."

"And this doesn't bother you?"

"No, so will you play with me?"

Zelgadis pushed his papers aside. "All right but just one game."

**2 hours later…**

Zack knocked over Zelgadis's king. "Daddy, I win…again."

Zelgadis twitched. "I can see that."

Zack frowned puzzled as he kicked his legs under the table. "I thought you said you weren't going to let me win?"

Zelgadis bit his tongue. No, he had never planned on letting Zack win. In fact, he had been playing hard against his son. Yet, for some reason, Zack kept winning. They had just finished their fifth game and the boy had miraculously won again. Zelgadis was proud of his son's accomplishment, but he didn't want to admit outright that a child so young was beating him so easily.

"Daddy?" Zack asked, sounding confused.

Zelgadis coughed, in an attempt to avoid the question. "Zack, I thought you said you've never won a game before."

Zack nodded. "That's right, you're the only person I've beaten, Daddy."

Zelgadis shook his head. He couldn't understand it. How could Zack become so good in such a short amount of time? He hadn't seen a player like this since… The chimera paused in mid-thought.

Fearing the answer, Zelgadis asked "Zack, who else have you been playing chess with?"

"Mommy," Zack replied, as he put his knight back on its starting square. "She's really hard daddy. She never lets me have any take backs."

Zelgadis sighed. _Like mother, like son._


	13. Mistaken Fairies

**Mistaken Fairies**

It was unusually quiet in the Inverse household. It was that time in the evening when the kids got ready for bed. Rowan was currently having his bath and Gourry was getting him ready for bed. Lori already had her bath, and was in bed. So that gave Lina some free time to sit in the kitchen and calculate the store's sales profit.

Lina chewed the tip of her ink pen. "Let's see, if this was today's sale total, then-"

"Momma!"

Lina jumped. Lori skidded on the floor as she ran into the kitchen and slammed her hands onto the table. Full of excitement, she pulled on Lina's arm. "Momma, you've got to see!"

"See what? You should be in bed young lady."

Lori continued to tug. "But Momma, you got to come and see the fairies!"

Lina raised an eyebrow. She saw fairies? That couldn't be right. Fairies lived deep in forests, they wouldn't go willingly near cities and humans.

"Where did you see them?"

"Outside the window! Come on, Momma!"

Lina let her daughter drag her to the hallway window. She looked out. It was dark. There was nothing to see but bright sparks floating in the air.

_"Fireflies,"_ Lina thought.

"See Momma!" Lina exclaimed, pointing her small finger at the blinking lights. "There are fairies out the window."

Lina chuckled to herself. Now it made sense, Lori mistook the fireflies to be fairies. Her daughter had never seen fireflies before. It was no wonder she thought they were fairies.

_"I better tell her"_

Lori hugged her around the waist. She looked up, her eyes full of wonder. "Aren't they beautiful Momma?"

Lina opened her mouth, but then close it. There was no reason to ruin it for Lori. She wouldn't be a kid forever. Was there really a need to rush it? Lina bent down and hugged her daughter around her shoulders. "Yes, they're very beautiful."

Mother and daughter sat in silence as they watched the glowing wonder outside.


	14. Male Bonding

Zack glared, refusing to move from his hiding spot behind the tree. "I'm not doing it. It's too high."

Zelgadis sighed, folding his arms. "Zack, I know you're scared, but you need to learn this."

Zack frowned. "No, I don't. I don't need to ride a horse!"

Zelgadis narrowed his eyes. "And how do you plan on traveling from place to place? You can't always get a carriage."

"I'll walk!" Zack protested. "Isn't that what you did?"

Zelgadis shook his head, feeling quite tired. "I did, but if I could have afforded a horse I would have gotten one."

There was a suddenly a sharp whiney from the stable. Phil gently coaxed the horse outside. "Now, now, Valiant. There's no need to be fussy."

He looked down to Zack and back to Zelgadis. "No progress I'm assuming?"

Zelgadis nodded. "He's scared he's going to fall off."

Phill sighed, handed the reins to Zelgadis and knelt down. "Now, Zack, I know you're frightened, but I can assure there's noting to be afraid of."

Zack looked up to the horse that was nibbling at the grass. He gulped. "But what if he runs off with me?"

"Zack," Zelgadis replied, attempting to suppress his frustration. "That's not going to happen."

Phil coughed. "Actually, we can't promise that won't ever happened." He stroked this chin. "In fact the chances of it are higher since he's a Seyrune prince."

Zelgadis twitched. "Phil, that's not helping."

Zack blinked. "Why is that Grandpa?"

Phil laughed. "Our family has a strange habit of crashing into our future spouses. In fact, it was due to a runaway horse that I met your grandmother."

Zelgadis stopped his scowling and frowned. He had to admit he was curious now as well.

Phil continued. "It was during my traveling days in my youth. I was riding my horse in the country side in Zefielia, when suddenly my horse was spooked by a loud explosion."

"What caused the explosion?" Zelgadis asked.

Phil shut his eyes in thought. "To this day I don't know, but I had heard rumors it was possibly caused by a hot tempered sorceress who was attacking a group of thieves. Anyway, my horse began to run a madman. I had lost total control and it was impossible for me to stop him."

Zack sat down. "So, what did you do?"

"Nothing, before I had a chance to think of a plan, my horse came across a small village and halted in front of the gate." He sighed contently in the memory. "I flipped over and landed right smack into a tomato patch. I was rather dazed, but when I opened my eyes, I saw a beautiful young woman leaning over me."

Zelgadis blinked surprised. "Amelia's mother?" Amelia had told him her mother had been a commoner, however he didn't realize she and Phil had such a strange meeting.

Phil nodded contently.

Zack grinned. "Let me guess, it was love at first sight."

Phil shook his head. "Oh no, she was furious. I had ruined the tomato crop she had planned to sell at market. She demanded I pay her for the damage." He laughed. "But, due to giving all the money I had to an orphanage at the last village, I didn't have a copper coin on me."

Zelgadis leaned against Valiant, struggling not to fall over. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Naturally, I stayed and worked to pay her back," Phil continued. "Overtime, we grew fond of each other and when it was time for me to go, she decided to accompany me. She claimed it was because she was convinced I would get myself killed with she wasn't around." His eyes soften. "She turned out to be quite a talented sorceress. Those were some of my favorite memories."

"And then you got married?" Zack asked.

Phil laughed, as he patted Zack on the shoulder. "Not quite that fast, but we did in due time." Phil rose to his feet. "The point is Zack is if it weren't for my horse I never would have met her." He winked at him. "It would mean a lot to me if you could at least try."

Zack frowned and looked to the horse. "I guess I could do it, but only for you grandpa."

Phil laughed. "That's my grandson! How about you go get the saddle?"

Zack nodded and dashed off to retrieve the saddle hanging off the stable wall.

Zelgadis looked to Phil. "Nice work."

Phild folded his arms. "To be fair, I was terrified of horses when I was Zack's age. To treat that kind of fear you just need to find the proper motivation."

"And if that doesn't work?"

"I believe bribery is a good solution."

Zelgadis laughed. "Was that story really how you meet your wife?"

Phil grinned. "The part of it being a family tradition? No. However, unbelievable as it may be, it is true. I realize it's not nearly as dignified as smashing through a window to defeat evil copies."

Zelgadis gave a half smile. "No, but there are worst ways. Did I ever tell you how I met Zolf and Rodimus?"

The two began their chat as Zack hurried back with the saddle.


	15. Instincts

**Instincts**

Gourry awoke to a loud knock at the door. He yawned as he made his way towards the door and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Coming, coming," he grumbled. He was having such a nice nap, and it was his first real nap in ages. The kids were out of the house with Lina shopping and he was left home alone. No one was left to bug him, or so he had thought.

As he scratched his head, he opened the door and wondered if he was still asleep. Zelgadis stood at the doorstep appearing very disgruntled. A leash was tightly held in his grip with an energetic Nama at the other end.

The giant puppy happily wagged her tail at the sight of Gourry and then turned her attention to chewing the bottom of Zelgadis's pant leg.

Zelgadis sighed, not even bothering to look down. "Hey, Gourry."

"Um...hey," Gourry replied, not sure what this was about. "What's up?"

Nama continued to happily chew on Zelgadis's pant leg until he shook himself free. Zelgadis grumbled and rubbed his tired eyes. "You once told me you trained dogs."

Gourry scratched his head. "Yeah, with my dad when I was a kid, but that was a long time ago."

"Good enough," Zelgadis mumbled as Nama began to chew on his shoelace. "I need someone to help me train this mutt."

Nama barked and then rolled to her back asking for a belly rub. When it appeared Zelgadis was not going to comply, Gourry knelt and began to scratch. "I thought you guys had royal animal trainers or something, didn't ya?"

"We did," Zelgadis replied sharply through his teeth. "They've been trying to train her for the last month , but she hasn't learned a darn thing. They declared her a lost cause this morning."

Nama stared innocently as she wrapped her front paws around Gourry's hand to ensure he kept scratching.

"She's just a puppy, how bad could she be?"

"My theory is that she is either so brilliant she doesn't feel the need to learn or she's just a jellyfish brain dog that can't."

"Aw, I don't believe that," Gourry replied with a grin. "There's no dog that can't be trained, at least that's what my dad always said."

"I would like to believe that, I'm tired of having my best shoes stolen every morning to be made into a chew toy."

Nama tilted her head at Zelgadis who glared back. "Yes, I'm talking about you, you little thief." He sighed and turned back to Gourry. "Frankly, you're my only hope at the moment. Please, help me train her?"

Gourry shrugged and his hand on Nama's belly paused. "Sure, how hard can it be?"

Nama barked, scolding Gourry for stopping.

08080808080808080808080808080

"Sit," Gourry commanded for the twentieth time. Nama panted and continued to stare at the small biscuit in Gourry's hand. Keeping a tight grip on the dog treat, he pushed down on Nama's rump. "See," Gourry replied, trying to hold his temper. "Sit."

Nama instantly leaped to her feet and pawed Gourry's leg for the treat. He sighed as he pocketed the treat and sat himself on the grass. "Come on, Nama, it's not that hard."

Zelgadis shook his head as Nama sniffed Gourry's pocket that contained the dog treat. "I shouldn't be surprised. So far, she ran off with the stick when she was supposed to fetch, begged when she was to lay down and then rolled over when she was suppose to beg."

Gourry sighed as he patted Nama's head. "I wonder if this is how if feels like to be Lina?"

Suddenly, Nama's ears stood straight up in the air, along with her tail. She ran past Gourry and stood in front of Zelgadis. She lowered her front and growled loudly.

Zelgadis stared in puzzlement. Nama was normally a gentle puppy, in fact this was the first time he seen her growl and directly at Zelgadis no less. "What's gotten into you?"

"My, my, what a smart creature."

Zelgadis jumped and spun around as Xellos gave a small wave. Nama never left her spot and bared her teeth directly at the sudden intruder.

Xellos laughed. "My, my what an interesting dog you have here."

He lowered his hand to pet her, but Nama refused to have none of it and snapped at it. Xellos whisked it back before he lost a finger. "My, she's a brave one isn't she?"

Zelgadis blinked and shared a surprised expression with Gourry. Not only had Nama sensed Xellos, she was strangly aggressive which was odd for her.

"I didn't think she'd be capable of that," Zelgadis whispered to Gourry.

"Must be instinct," Gourry whispered back. "Besides, isn't she supposed to be part dragon? Fillia could sense Xellos's presence right?"

"That's true," Zelgadis muttered. _Might also explain why she doesn't like him._

He narrowed his eyes at Xellos. "What are you doing here?"

Nama circled Xellos and continued to growl at him, but he seemed to pay her no mind. "I just thought I'd drop by for a visit, but I didn't expect to see you two training. Who is this creature's owner?"

"She's a dog," Gourry corrected. "And she's Zel's...well technically she belongs to Zack but-"

Zelgadis raised his hand. "He doesn't need to know that, Gourry and I really don't think it's any of your business."

Xellos grinned. "There's no need to be so cold Mister Zelgadis and I would argue differently since she's clearly a chimera. I can sense the dragon in her as clear as day."

He laughed not bothering to pay attention as Nama stopped growling and sniffed his shoe. "I must say I've been having a marvelous time watching you two trying to train her."

Zelgadis raised an eyebrow. Just what they needed. "Oh, really."

"Yes, I've never seen an animal so slow in training," Xellos sighed. "But it's probably the dragon in her."

Gourry stared at Nama and raised his hand. "Uh, Xellos."

"It's natural, they are quite dim witted creatures. I couldn't help but make a suggestion of getting a whip-"

His shoe suddenly felt damp. Xellos stared at his shoe that was now in a large puddle with Nama staring back up at him with a very doggy grin.

Xellos's eyes twitched. "She...peed on me."

Gourry sighed. "I tried to warn you."

Zelgadis surpressed a chuckle. "You were saying?"

Xellos coughed into his hand. "As I was saying I must be heading off now. Sorry to cut this so short." He glared at Nama and suddenly vanished.

Gourry blinked. "Geez, I think that was the shortest visit we ever had with Xellos."

Without saying a word, Zelgadis reached into his pocket for a dog biscuit. Nama stared at the treat drooling.

"Good girl, Nama." Zelgadis tossed the treat and Nama snatched it in mid air. She happily chewed the treat as Zelgadis patted her head.

"Why are you rewarding her?" Gourry replied. "She didn't do anything."

Zelgadis smirked "If she can make Xellos go away that fast every time, I don't care how often she steals my shoes."

Nama wagged her tail and ate the rest of her treat.


	16. Snow Fight

**Snow Fight**

Nama's ears twitched as she pawed at the snow and licked it. Zack and Lori giggled as they watched her. It was first time the dog had ever seen snow and they didn't realize how fun it would be to watch her reactions.

Zack bent down and began to roll a snowball in his hands. "Here, Nama, catch!"

Nama raised her head as Zack threw the ball in the air. On instict, Nama leaped and snapped her jaws into it. As the snow spilled and clung to her fur in various directions, Nama licked her lips and tilted her head.

Lori laughed loudly. "Hey, let's show her how to make a snow angel."

"Can dogs make snow angels?" Zack asked unsure.

Lori rolled her eyes. "Of course not, we haven't taught her how yet."

"Hey! Are you two going to help with this snow fort or not!" Rowen yelled crossly as he patted more snow on his wall. "I can't build this thing by myself."

Off to the side where the adults had been watching, Gourry grinned and started to walk over. "Hang on kiddo, I'll give you a hand."

Zelgadis sighed as he wrapped his scarf around his neck. "Think the kids will be worn out in the next five minutes? I'm freezing out here."

Amelia smiled as she held onto his arm. "Come on, Mister Zelgadis, it's the first snowfall of the season. It's normal to be excited."

Zelgadis sighed as he tucked his hands into his pockets. "Sure, it's fun now, but you know they're going to ending up catching colds which we'll have to deal with, right?"

Amelia smiled and then frowned. "He's lost his hat again." She knelt and picked up the fallen hat. "Zack, come here! You need to put your hat on."

"See," Zelgadis replied. "I wouldn't be surprised if they've already caught colds."

Lina rolled her eyes as she watched Lori trying to help Nama roll in the snow. "Zel, you're sounding like an old man, will you lighten up?"

Zelgadis turned to her. "If being an old man means I can stay inside with hot tea and read a book, I'll be more than happy to call myself one."

Lina shook her head, and then an evil idea popped into her head. Grinning madly, she carefully turned and slowly collected snow in her hands, patting it together gently. "Oh, Zel."

Zelgadis turned and his vision turned white as Lina threw a snowball in his face. He growled as he wiped the snow off. "Very mature, Lina."

Lina laughed hysterically. "You should see your face."

Zelgadis twitched and then quickly collected snow himself. Sure, he could take the dignified route and ignore her, but if Lina wanted him to act like a child then who was he to deny her wish.

Before Lina clued in to what Zelgadis was doing, a snowball was promptly thrown in her face, even knocking her over.

Zelgadis smirked as he hovered over her. "Now, that's funny."

Lina snarled and took a ball of snow into each hand. "Oh, it's on Greywords!" she cried throwing them both.

Neither of them meant to have it happen. It could be blamed on how Lina overestimated on how strong her throw was or perhaps it was just bad luck because Zelgadis chose the action to duck.

At that same moment, Gourry and Amelia had walked back over to find out why Lina and Zelgadis were shouting. They had just reached the pair as Zelgadis chose to duck leaving the snowballs to hit Gourry and Amelia on target in the face.

Lina and Zelgadis remained still as the snow dripped and were shaken off their respective spouses. Gourry and Amelia glared at the pair.

"Um..." Zelgadis began. "We can explain."

Amelia looked to Gourry and they nodded in agreement, bending to build snowballs in their hands.

"Snowball fight!" Gourry declared as he and Amelia teamed up to tackle Lina and Zelgadis with snowballs.

Zelgadis shielded himself with his arms as Lina stood behind him building more snowballs. "Come on, Zel! I can't make enough for both of us"

Zelgadis turned, and as he felt more snowballs hit his back, went to help Lina.

Off to the side, Zack, Lori, Rowen and Nama stared dumbfounded as they watched their parents.

"What are they doing?" Lori asked as Nama barked at the scene.

"Having a snowball fight," Rowen replied.

"Why?"

Rowen shrugged. "How am I supposed to know?"

"Adults are so weird," Zack stated with Lori and Rowen nodding in agreement.


	17. A Doll By Any Other Name

**A Doll By Any Other Name**

Lina stared at the doll, stunned. It had to be a coincidence, it had to be. Rowen and Lori had just finished opening the winter gifts sent from Lina's parents and Lori was thrilled to discover her last gift was a beautiful handcrafted doll. She hugged it happily to her chest like it was her new best friend.

Lina was more stunned and unsure how to feel. The doll did not look exactly like her, its dress was a light blue, but the hair style and even the face painted on resembled her.

She glanced to Gourry, but he showed no concern, as usual. Lina knew better than to rely on Gourry's swiss cheese memory. Still, she had thought he would at least-

"Mom, you okay," Rowan asked as he closed his new tool box.

Lina gave a shaky smile. "Yeah, sure, I'm fine sweetie." She turned her attention to Lori. "So, kiddo, what name are you going to give the doll?"

Lori bit her bottom lip in thought. "I don't know."

"How about Ozel?" Lina jumped and whipped around to face Gourry. He smiled calmly and finished, "Doesn't that sound like a good name for a doll?"

Rowen stuck out his tongue. "Dad, that's a dumb name."

"No, it's not!" Lori protested, holding her doll protectively. "I like it, it's the perfect name for her." Lori then held the doll up. "Don't listen to my stupid brother, you're my new favorite doll."

Rowen rolled his eyes and went back to reading his book.

Gourry wrapped his arm around Lina's shoulder and gave a small wink. "We can tell Lori about her when she's older."

Lina smiled back and watched Lori lovingly hug her new doll.


End file.
